Cut the pork into slices or cubes (depending on the cut of the meat), then add to a pot of water and slow boil for about 40 minutes. Remember to remove the white foam that forms on the surface of the water while the meat is boiling.

While the meat is boiling, prepare your key vegetables: potatoes, carrots, onion, beets, and cabbage. First, peel the potatoes, carrot, onion, and beets. Then dice the potatoes into cubes, grate the carrot and the beets, dice the onion, and shred the cabbage. Place your prepared vegetables onto separate plates or in bowls.

Add the oil and butter to a pan over medium heat, then add the onion, and sautee for about 2-3 minutes (carefully so it doesn’t burn; lower the temperature as needed if the heat is too high).

To the pan, add carrots and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Then, to the pan, add the tomato paste, grated beets, vinegar, sugar, and 1 tsp of salt. Sautee for 2-3 minutes.

Put a lid on the pan and cook over low heat for another 2 or 3 minutes. Turn the heat off and set the pan aside.

Remove the meat once it's ready (after roughly 40 minutes if using pork belly cut similarly to the one in our recipe), and to the pot of water from which you removed the meat, add the potatoes and the shredded cabbage and boil for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are fork-tender.

Once the potatoes are fork-tender, add the pork belly back to the pot and add all the sauteed vegetables from the pan, the black pepper, bay leaves, and cut-up parsley (leave some parsley for topping). And boil the pot over low heat for about 2 minutes.

After the 2 minutes have elapsed, put a lid on the pot and turn the heat off. Let the borsch rest for about 8-10 minutes.

Remove the bay leaves from the pot and serve the borsch in bowls. To keep things traditional, top it with a dollop of sour cream and fresh parsley.