There are many different ways to cook borshch. The Russian version is different from the Ukrainian one, and each family seems to have their own recipe for it. Some put meat in it, others don’t. Some use more veggies, others like it watery. The version I am about to teach you to make is medium thick, vegetable only.
Borshch is originally a Ukrainian dish, adopted by the Russians, so much so that it is now known as a Russian soup as well (to the Ukrainians’ indignation). The veggie-only version I will tell you about is tasty, healthy, and amazingly filling, despite the fact that there is no meat in it. Attention beet-haters: this soup does not taste like beets. Honestly! Give it a try, and you will see for yourself.
Cooking borshch may seem a little bit complicated, but it is really not that hard, especially when you have learned the process and know exactly what you are doing. You will need:
A large pan (I usually use a 6 quarts one; it makes quite a lot of soup, but borshch keeps very well refrigerated)
A frying pan
2-3 potatoes
1 cabbage (medium size)
4-5 carrots
2-3 tomatoes
1 onion (medium size)
1 large beet (the size of a tennis ball or larger, or 2 smaller ones)
Vegetable oil (I use sunflower oil, but regular vegetable oil works fine, too)
Salt
Vinegar
Garlic powder (or 2-3 garlic cloves)
Step 1. You begin by pouring the large pan a little over half-full of water and putting it on the stove, on very low heat. Then you peel the potatoes, dice them, and throw them into the pan. Note: potatoes are the only ingredient you do not pre-fry, they go into the pan raw.
Step 2. The next step is cabbage. Pour some vegetable oil into the frying pan – not much, just enough to make sure the veggies won’t burn. Chop up the cabbage, not too finely; the pieces should be larger than those normally used for cole slaw. Put the chopped cabbage into the frying pan and pre-fry it a little, stirring occasionally. Add some salt in the process. When you see that the cabbage has softened, dump it into the large pan. Note: you only need one frying pan full of cabbage, so you might not use the whole head.
Step 3. On to the carrots. Peel them and grate them (I usually do that while the cabbage is being pre-fried – a little time-saving trick), add some more vegetable oil into the frying pan, put the grated carrots on it. Once again, pre-fry until the carrots look soft, stirring occasionally. Add some salt in the process. When done, the carrots go into the large pan as well.
Step 4. Tomatoes and onion are pre-fried together. Chop them up, mix them in the frying pan (don’t forget to add some vegetable oil again, this needs to be done for each ingredient). Add some salt and pre-fry until the tomatoes turn into soft mass. Dump into the large pan.
Step 5. On to the major ingredient, the one that will give your soup its unique taste and color. The beets! Peel the beet, grate them, and put them into the frying pan, just like you did before with the carrots. Now the chef’s secret: in order for the beets not to lose their color, you will need to add a table spoon of vinegar as soon as you can, and mix it in. If you forget that, your soup will turn yellow, and of course there is no such thing as yellow borshch. J When you are done with vinegar, go the usual route: add some salt, pre-fry until the beets look soft. Dump into the large pan.
You are almost done! If the soup in the large pan is already at the boiling point, that’s good. If not, turn the heat up just a little. Add some more salt; this soup really “eats up” salt, that’s why you have to add it for each ingredient when you pre-fry and then again to the whole thing. It will of course depend on your taste how salty you like it, so I suggest taking a spoonful and tasting it (be careful and don’t burn yourself! I often do.)
And the finishing stroke: some garlic powder. If you want to use real garlic instead, chop it as fine as you can and put it into the pan.
Cover the pan with the lid and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes. Then turn the heat off and let it just sit for a while, cooling off.
That’s it!!
Borshch is served hot or warm and, traditionally, it is served with sour cream. That might sound scary to some, but it is actually all right, and quite tasty. What you do is you add a spoonful of sour cream into each bowl as you serve it, telling your guests to mix it in before they start eating. Or, if you want to let them try it with and without sour cream, you can put a jar of sour cream on the table and have each person add it for themselves.