Borscht
Borscht is a soup derived from Russian beet soup, and after being introduced to Shanghai it developed a localized approach. It is relatively simple to make; beginners can finish it in 2-3 hours.
Ingredients and Tools
- Vegetable stock (parsley, carrot, onion trio)
- Beef stock (can be replaced with stock cube)
- Beef (beef brisket or oxtail optional)
- Tomatoes (tomato paste, canned tomatoes)
Measurements
- Beef stock 500 mL
- Beef 250 g (beef brisket or oxtail optional)
- Canned tomatoes 2 cans (can be replaced with tomatoes, but the flavor is less good)
- Tomato paste 5 g (enhances tomato flavor)
- Potatoes 400 g
- Onion 100 g
- Carrot 100 g
- Parsley 100 g
- Cabbage 200 g
- Red sausage 100 - 200 g
- Olive oil 5 mL (olive oil is used for cooking vegetables and can be replaced with vegetable oil)
- Vegetable oil 5 mL (vegetable oil is used for cooking beef and cannot be replaced with olive oil)
- Salt 18 g
- Black pepper 3 g
Steps
- Dice onion, carrot, and parsley into 1 cm cubes
- Cut red sausage and potatoes into 2 cm pieces
- Remove the core from cabbage, then tear into 2 cm pieces
- Sprinkle beef with salt 3 g and black pepper 3 g, marinate 5 minutes. Searing process
- Heat a skillet and add vegetable oil
- Sear the beef until the surface is golden brown (can be left a bit raw, don’t burn it), remove and set aside. Cooking process 1 (first hour)
- Heat a soup pot, add olive oil, diced onion, diced carrot, diced parsley
- Saute until the onion is translucent, add tomato paste and canned tomatoes
- Add beef and diced potatoes, stir-fry evenly
- Add water to cover the ingredients, cook over medium heat for 1 hour. Cooking process 2 (last half hour)
- Bring to a boil and add diced cabbage and diced red sausage, stir evenly
- Cook over medium heat for half an hour
- Uncover and add the remaining 15 g salt, mix evenly and plate
Notes
- Try not to use fresh tomatoes as a substitute; the combination of canned tomatoes + tomato paste has a fuller flavor
- Besides carrot, onion, parsley, and beef as required ingredients, the rest can be freely adjusted. If you follow this guide and find any issues or improvements, please submit an Issue or Pull request.