Iskembe Corbasi -- Tripe Soup

This is my husband's recipe. He says tripe soup is very popular in Turkey. It's used to warm the body and clean out toxins. It's also recommended to use after a night of drinking to recover from a hangover. Tripe soup is so popular in Turkey that there are restaurants which specialize in serving it alone.

If you've never had tripe soup, don't be unfairly prejudiced against eating cow stomach. My kids absolutely love this recipe and ask their dad to fix it frequently.

Instructions:

• 1kg / 2 lbs cow stomach (tripe)
  
• 2 tbsp whole spelt flour
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil; 3 tbsp olive oil
  
• 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
  
• 3/4 cups vinegar or lemon juice
  
• 1 tbsp cup red pepper
  
• sea salt

Directions:

The directions for washing the tripe is based on buying raw tripe fresh from the butcher's in Turkey. Most tripe you will buy at a supermarket today, on those little styrofoam plates, has already been cleaned, and probably bleached as well. :-(

1) To wash the stomach: pour a palm-full of salt over the stomach, then roll the stomach up, with the salt covering it, and set it aside to sit for a few hours. Later, scrape the salt off with a knife and wash the stomach good with a lot of water.

2) Boil the stomach in 8-10 cups of water, on low heat, until tender (probably a couple of hours). Reserve the liquid in the pot.

3) Cool the stomach and cut into small pieces.

4) Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan, add the spelt flour, and stir until brown.

5) Add this gravy slowly, stirring constantly, into the reserved liquid (heat on medium). Add the chopped stomach and return to boil.

6) Saute the red pepper with 3 tbsp olive oil and pour over the soup.

7) Mix the crushed garlic with the vinegar or lemon juice. To serve, add this garlic/vinegar/lemon juice to soup bowls according to taste.