Krovianka

Ingredients

Filling

• 1 litrepig’s blood, strained
• 500 gbuckwheat groats
• 1 litrestock or water, for cooking the groats
• 400 gpork fat or fatty belly, chopped small
• 300 gonions, chopped fine
• 300 gpork liver, boiled and minced, optional
• 2 tspsalt
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 1 tspground allspice
• 1 tspdried marjoram

Casing and cooking

• wide natural hog casing, about 2 m
• 3 litreswater, for poaching
• lard or oil, for frying

To serve

• fried onions
• sour cream
• kvashena kapusta

Directions

1. Cook the buckwheat in the stock until just tender but still with bite, then cool it completely. It swells further in the casing, and slightly underdone here is right.
2. Fry the onion in some of the pork fat until soft and golden, then cool.
3. Mix the cooled buckwheat, onion, chopped fat, liver if using, strained blood and all the seasoning.
4. Fill the casings no more than two-thirds full and tie into 15 cm lengths. Buckwheat expands, and a full casing bursts in the pot every time.
5. Prick each sausage three or four times with a needle.
6. Bring the water to 80°C (176°F) — steaming, with the surface barely moving — and poach for 40 minutes.
7. Never let it boil. Blood sets hard and fast, the casings split and the whole pot is lost. This is the one rule of every blood sausage.
8. Test with a skewer: the juice should run clear, not red.
9. Lift them out, lay them on a tray and cool completely. They will not slice or fry until properly cold.
10. To eat, fry whole or in thick slices in lard until crisp and dark, and serve with fried onions, sour cream and sour cabbage.

Technique

• Two-thirds full, 80°C (176°F), never a boil.
• Cool completely before frying.
• Fresh blood on the day it is collected.

Substitutions

• Barley or rice in place of buckwheat, both of which are traditional in different regions.
• Beef blood, which is easier to source.
• Baked in a tin as a loaf and sliced, if you have no casings.

Variations

• The Polish kaszanka and Lithuanian vėdarai are the same sausage.
• Crumbled from the casing and fried loose with onion, which avoids the bursting problem altogether.

History

Made at the winter pig slaughter, when blood was mixed with buckwheat and stuffed into casings so nothing was wasted.

Frequently asked questions

What is Krovianka?

Krovianka is a charcuterie & cured from Ukraine: blood sausage bulked with buckwheat groats, fried in slices. Made at the winter pig slaughter, when blood was mixed with buckwheat and stuffed into casings so nothing was wasted.

How long does Krovianka take to make?

Krovianka takes 1 hour of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 12 sausages. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Krovianka?

Yes, within limits. Barley or rice in place of buckwheat, both of which are traditional in different regions. Beef blood, which is easier to source. Baked in a tin as a loaf and sliced, if you have no casings.

What is the most important thing to get right in Krovianka?

Never let it boil. Blood sets hard and fast, the casings split and the whole pot is lost. This is the one rule of every blood sausage.