Shchi Traditional Russian Soup
Shchi is a traditional Russian soup that dates back to the 9th century. Soup is very popular in Russia and because it is so cold in winter , they are looking for food that will give them energy and keep them warm. We eat a lot of soup in winter here in Argentina and my husband recently introduced me to Shchi.
vegetable soup with cabage
The main ingredient is cabbage, which lends a distinct sour taste to the soup. It is a very popular soup in Russia and for many reasons. First of all it is easy to prepare, you can make the soup with or without meat and it can be frozen and taken with you on a trip.
A typical Russian meal consists of several courses. You would often hear them calling it the first course, second course and third course. This has been like this since the times of the former Soviet Union. The first and the main course is soup, followed by meat and garnish which is the second course and the third course is a drink.
Russians also believe that you can eat Shchi on a daily basis and nothing will happen to you.There is a Russian saying that goes like this:
“Pодной отец надоест, а щи – никогда!” (Rodnoi otets nadoyest, a shchi–nikogda! “One’s may become fed up with one’s own father, but never with shchi!”).
Some people refer to Shchi as Russian Sauerkraut soup but it is also known as sour schi, grey schi or green schi. I have mentioned before that the soup can be made with or without meat. It all depends on the person making the soup. You can also add chicken or pork to the soup but it tastes delicious with beef.
I found this recipe on the Internet. You can add a bottle of sauerkraut to the soup but we prefer to make it with fresh cabbage.
Ingredients of Shchi soup
- 2 lb of pork meat (with or without bones), better in a whole piece
- 24 oz jar of sauerkraut or gabbage
- 2-3 potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 1 parsley root or parsnip
- 2 onions
- Sunflower oil
- Several bay leaves to taste
- Whole allspice and black peppercorns to taste
- Salt to taste
How to make russian Shchi:
- Prepare pork broth: for that fill a 4.5-5qt cooking pot with water and bring it to boil; rinse meat with cold water, put it to the boiling water and boil for about 1.5-2 hours until the meat is ready.
- While broth is being prepared, skin and dice onions. Warm up a skillet with a bit of sunflower oil and fry onions over low heat until browned in color.
- Skin carrots and grate them on large slots (you may also slice them with a knife); add carrots to the onions on the skillet; fry them together for 10-15 minutes, then remove from the burner.
- When meat is ready, get it out of the broth, remove bones if you used bone-in meat; and slice meat into portion pieces.
- Add meat back to the broth and bring broth to simmering.
- Skin and slice potatoes and parsley root.
- Add potatoes to the broth and boil for about 5 mins.
- Add sliced parsley root.
- Drain liquid from sauerkraut, if it is too sour rinse it with cold water first, then add it to the pot and let it cook for about 10 mins. If you are using raw cabbage make sure it is sliced into pieces and then add it to the pot and cook.
- Then add fried carrots and onions from the skillet.
- Add bay leaves, allspice and black peppercorns and salt to taste.
- Boil soup until the potatoes are ready – soft when you pierce them with a knife (about 10-15 mins), then russian sauerkraut soup is ready! Serve it hot.
Recipe by: www.enjoyyourcooking.com
