Tatar-Style Beef Azu

Name: Tatar-Style Beef Azu: Beef Stew with Pickles and Potatoes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: Beef 400 g; Salt-brined (fermented) pickles 3–4; Onions 1–2; Carrot 1; Potatoes 500 g; Garlic 4–6 cloves; Tomato 1; Parsley 5–6 sprigs; Butter 50 g; Water a little; Salt, ground black pepper, chili pepper to taste

☆ 4.4

2 h

I doubt there’s anyone who has never done a crossword in their life. I don’t know why, but half the crosswords I remember had filler words.

You know, short words of two or three letters that usually serve to link the long, tricky words.

Compilers don’t strain themselves and just slot in words like “nose”, “tor”, “woof” and so on. The words are simple and easy to guess, but they’re very handy as “hints” for working out the letters in between. One of those words is “azu”.

I used to have no idea what azu was; I thought it was braised beef. From crosswords I knew it was a dish of meat and vegetables. And so it is.

Ideally the stew is cooked over a campfire in a kazan. But in a city apartment you can make this amazing dish every bit as well. It’s supposed to be a little spicy, but you can always make it to your own taste.

Azu is a stew of beef and braised vegetables. A step-by-step photo recipe for a traditional dish of Tatar cuisine.

Ingredients

2 servings

Beef 400 g
Salt-brined (fermented) pickles 3–4
Onions 1–2
Carrot 1
Potatoes 500 g
Garlic 4–6 cloves
Tomato 1
Parsley 5–6 sprigs
Butter 50 g
Water a little
Salt, ground black pepper, chili pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Frying the meat and vegetables

Wash the beef and remove all bones and membranes.
Cut it into long pieces, thick strips up to 1 cm thick — roughly the way meat is cut for beef stroganoff, but twice as big.

Fry the beef in a third of the butter until browned, stirring constantly. Don’t add salt or spices. The meat will release juices, which will evaporate quickly.
Peel the onion and cut it into strips. Add the onion to the meat and keep frying. Note: frying, not braising. It’s best not to lower the heat, but to fry, stirring often, until the onion softens. Add chili peppers if you like.
Coarsely grate the carrot or cut it into small pieces and add to the meat. Keep frying until the carrot softens.

Braising with pickles

Chop the salt-brined or fermented pickles into small pieces, or grate them.
Some write that you can use vinegar pickles. I think that’s a joke. Nothing replaces a barrel-fermented pickle or one from a home jar, least of all the sour vinegar taste of a store-bought jar.

Add the pickles and the tomato cut into wedges. No need to peel or seed it. If tomatoes are hard to get out of season, add a little tomato paste.
Stir everything, add a little water and braise, covered, over low heat for about 30 minutes.
Mince the garlic very finely and mash it with coarse salt. Add the garlic to the vegetables and meat, stir and braise for another 10 minutes.

Frying the potatoes and finishing

While the meat and vegetables braise, fry the potatoes.

Cut the peeled potatoes into small pieces — cubes or thick sticks. Fry them in the remaining butter until fully cooked. A golden crust is welcome.
Add the fried potatoes to the braised meat and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, and add a coarsely ground chili pepper to taste. Stir gently and braise for another 10–12 minutes.

Serving

Serve on plates, always sprinkled with finely chopped parsley and, if you like, chili pepper.
Tatar-style azu is ready!

Calories and macros

885 kcal

Serving ≈ 550 g

Protein48 g23% of kcal
Fat50 g53% of kcal
Carbs53 g25% of kcal

100 g160 kcalProtein 8.7 gFat 9 gCarbs 9.6 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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To Get It Right

Heat to taste

Azu is considered a little spicy, but you can always make it to your taste: whole chili peppers go in with the onion, coarsely ground chili at the end of braising, and a little more when serving.

No salt-brined pickles?

Where do you get salt-brined pickles when last year’s are gone and the new ones aren’t ready yet? A reader suggests leaving lightly salted pickles to ferment longer.

Over a fire in a kazan

Azu is best cooked over a fire in a kazan. But in a city flat you can make it just as well — in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and a covered pot.

Have your own trick for this recipe?

Questions and answers

What is azu?

Azu is a dish of Tatar cuisine: a beef stew with braised vegetables, salt-brined pickles and fried potatoes. Many people know the word from crosswords as a dish of meat and vegetables — and that’s exactly what it is.

What goes into classic Tatar-style azu?

Beef, salt-brined or fermented pickles, onion, carrot, tomato, potatoes, garlic, butter and parsley, plus chili pepper for heat. The meat and potatoes are fried separately and then braised together.

Can you make azu without potatoes?

Yes: cook the meat with vegetables and pickles the same way, just don’t fry or add the potatoes. Then serve the azu with a side dish — rice or mashed potatoes.

How do you make azu with more gravy?

The gravy forms during braising from the juices of the meat, pickles and tomato. If you want more of it, add a little more water and a spoonful of tomato paste.

Can you make azu with pork or chicken?

Classic Tatar-style azu is made with beef. With pork the method is the same, while chicken braises faster, so you can shorten the braising time.

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