Russian Nostalgia-Fest, Part I: Borscht

There are many schools of borscht. Some hold that it should be hot, rich and meaty; others that it is a cool concoction for summer, made only with vegetable stock. Polish kitchens send it to the table with the sour cream already mixed in, so that the soup is the exact colour of Pepto Bismol. Hong Kong, where I grew up, has made borscht its own: “Russian Soup”, as it is referred to on the menus of the Chinese-style Western restaurants where it is ubiquitous, goes heavy on the cabbage and tomato paste and generally leaves out the beets altogether. (Note its appearance on the Campbell Soup website for Hong Kong.)

My own borscht is a Russian idea, executed with French training, a Hong Kong mentality and a horror of Polish culinary conventions. What this means: the dish starts off with caramelised onions, like a French onion soup; the vegetable cubes are reasonably even, not slapdash; beets do not dominate, and the Savoy cabbage is cut into a fine chiffonade and added at the very end. I definitely don’t subscribe to the vegetarian borscht school of thought: my soup uses store-bought beef stock, reinforced with chuck steak and its bones. Finally, you add the sour cream yourself, and I’ve taken care to pluck the dill fronds from their stems–there are few things to make you feel more like a ruminant than chewing on sections of coarse dill stems.

I couldn’t tell whether the (in)authenticity of my recipe interfered with my Uzbek visitor’s enjoyment of it (he claimed to like it very much), but, after the previous night’s Russian concert, I was so mired in a deep and dark longing for St Petersburg that I didn’t really care what he thought. To me, the soup tasted just like my favourite borscht, at Cafe Me100, just a little sweeter and rounder in flavour.

Michele’s Pan-Global Borscht–Serves 6 as a first course or 4 as a meal

INGREDIENTS

1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, diced
1 large Idaho potato, diced
3 medium cooked beets (you can roast these yourself, or buy them pre-cooked and vacuum-packed), diced
1 cup Savoy cabbage, in chiffonade

32 oz. beef stock
3/4 lb. chuck steak, sliced into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp flour
red wine vinegar, to taste

sour cream
fresh dill, chopped

METHOD

In a large stock pot, brown the onion until tender and completely caramelised, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle flour over onions and cook for an additional three minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Cover with beef stock and add meat and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, and then lower to a gentle simmer.

Temper the tomato paste with a little bit of hot stock. Stir until completely combined, and add paste to simmering stock.

Add vegetables to pot, and simmer until tender but still intact, about 30 minutes. Add cabbage and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Add vinegar by the tablespoon, to taste. Adjust seasoning.

Sprinkle with chopped dill before serving. Serve sour cream on the side.

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