Доматена супа с фиде стъпка по стъпка

What is 'фиде' and why fry it for Bulgarian tomato soup?

Фиде is the thin, nest-shaped egg-noodle vermicelli that Bulgarians (and Turks, Greeks) drop into soup. The standard move is to crush a handful and запържи (fry) it dry in oil until it turns pink-gold before adding tomatoes and water. That toast-then-simmer step gives доматена супа a nutty backbone the noodles wouldn’t get otherwise.

In this clip the host calls it out flat: « Танкостта тук е в запържването на фиде » (the trick here is in frying the фиде). She softens onion and garlic, browns the vermicelli for two-to-three minutes, pours in a jar of crushed tomatoes, simmers, finishes with sugar, parsley, and dried чубрица (savory) before « добър апетит! ».