Borscht
Ruby beet soup with beef, cabbage, dill and sour cream
- Serves
- 6
- Hands-on
- Total
- Level
- Some skill
Ukraine's national soup is hearty, sweet-sour and an almost unreal shade of red. This version builds a beef broth with shin, cooks the beets separately with a splash of vinegar to lock in their color, and finishes with garlic, dill and a spoon of sour cream.
Ingredients
Broth
- 600 gbone-in beef shin or short rib (1⅓ lb)
- 2½ lwater (10½ cups)
- 1yellow onionhalved
- 2bay leaves
- 6black peppercorns
- 9 gfine sea salt (1½ tsp)
Soup
- 3 tbspsunflower or neutral oil
- 1yellow oniondiced
- 1carrotcoarsely grated
- 500 graw beets (1 lb 2 oz)about 3 medium, peeled and cut into matchsticks or coarsely grated
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 2 tbspred wine vinegaror lemon juice
- 1 tspsugar
- 300 gwaxy potatoes (10½ oz)peeled, diced 1.5 cm
- 300 gwhite cabbage (10½ oz)finely shredded
- 2 clovesgarlicfinely grated
- 15 gdill (½ cup)chopped
- black pepper
- 200 gsour cream or smetana (¾ cup + 1 tbsp)to serve
- Diet
- Gluten-free
- Allergens
- milk, sulphites
- Origin
- Ukraine
- Season
- Autumn, Winter
Method
- Put the beef and water in a large pot and bring slowly to a simmer, skimming off the foam. Add the halved onion, bay, peppercorns and salt. Simmer gently, partly covered, until the meat is tender and pulls apart, 1½–2 hours.
- Lift out the meat. Strain the broth; you should have about 2 liters (top up with water if needed). Shred the meat, discarding bone and gristle, and return both to the pot.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook the diced onion and carrot until soft, 6–8 minutes.
- Add the beets, tomato paste, vinegar and sugar to the pan. Stir, add 100 ml of the broth, cover and cook over low heat, stirring now and then, until the beets are tender, 15–20 minutes.
- Bring the broth back to a simmer. Add the potatoes and cook 10 minutes.
- Add the cabbage and cook 5 minutes, until just tender.
- Stir in the beet mixture and bring just back to a simmer — don't boil hard now or the color will brown. Add the garlic and most of the dill. Taste and balance with salt, pepper, and more vinegar or sugar: it should be gently sweet-sour.
- Turn off the heat and rest 15 minutes, covered, for the flavors to settle. Serve with a spoonful of sour cream and the remaining dill.
Why it works
Beet red comes from betalain pigments, which hold their color in mild acid but turn brownish with long boiling; cooking the beets separately with vinegar and adding them near the end keeps the soup ruby. Simmering beef shin slowly converts its collagen to gelatin, giving the broth body. A short rest lets the sweet, sour and savory flavors blend.
Common mistakes
- Boiling the beets for the whole cook: the color fades to brown-orange.
- Skipping the acid: borscht should taste bright, not earthy.
- Serving straight from the stove: the 15 minutes rest really does improve it.
Variations
- Vegetarian borscht
- Use Vegetable Stock, skip the meat, and add a can of drained white beans with the cabbage.
Make ahead and storage
Better the next day. Keeps 4 days in the fridge and 3 months frozen (potatoes soften slightly).
Notes
Wear gloves when cutting beets, or rub your hands with lemon juice afterwards to lift the stains. Pampushky (garlic bread rolls) are the traditional side. Milk only from the sour cream served on top.
