Solyanka

Ingredients

Broth

• 800 gbeef brisket on the bone
• 2.5 litreswater
• 1onion
• 2bay leaves
• 8peppercorns

The meats

• 150 gsmoked sausage, sliced
• 150 gboiled ham
• 150 gsmoked bacon or brisket
• 150 gkidney or heart, cooked, optional
• 150 gfrankfurters

The sour

• 4salted or pickled cucumbers, diced
• 150 mlcucumber brine, from the jar
• 100 gpitted olives, green and black
• 2 tbspcapers
• 1lemon, sliced

Base

• 2onions, chopped
• 3 tbsptomato paste
• 3 tbspbutter or oil

To finish

• smetana, sour cream
• chopped dill and parsley
• black pepper

To serve

• black rye bread

Directions

1. Make the broth first. Cover the beef with cold water and bring it slowly to a boil. Skim the scum off carefully in the first fifteen minutes, before it disperses and clouds the broth.
2. Add the whole onion, bay and peppercorns and simmer gently for 1 hour 30 minutes. Keep it at a bare simmer rather than a boil, which clouds it. Strain the broth and cut the meat into strips. Cut everything into matchsticks of roughly the same size. Use salted or brined cucumbers, ogurtsy, rather than sweet vinegar pickles.
3. Dice them and, if the skins are tough, peel them. Now stew the diced cucumbers separately in a little broth for 10 minutes before they go in. Fry the chopped onions in butter until soft and golden.
4. Add the tomato paste and fry it for 3 to 4 minutes until it darkens and the oil separates. Frying the tomato paste properly is what gives solyanka its colour and takes the tinny edge off it.
5. Bring the strained broth back to a simmer and add the fried onion base. Add the meats, the stewed cucumbers and the capers. Add it gradually and taste as you go. Simmer everything together for 15 minutes. Add the olives near the end of cooking.
6. Add olives late, because long cooking makes them bitter. Between the cured meats, the brine, the olives and the capers, it may need no salt at all, and this is the commonest way to ruin it. Take it off the heat and let it stand 20 minutes.
7. Serve it in deep bowls with a slice of lemon in each, a spoonful of smetana and plenty of herbs. So does the sour cream, which would split if it were stirred into the boiling pot. Serve black rye bread alongside.

Technique

• Fish solyanka is made with sturgeon or salmon and mushroom solyanka with dried mushrooms.
• It is genuinely better on the second day.
• It became a staple of East German restaurants and is still common there.

Substitutions

• Any mix of cured and cooked meats and sausages.
• Dill pickles in brine rather than vinegar, if salted cucumbers are unavailable.

Variations

• Fish solyanka, with sturgeon or salmon.
• Mushroom solyanka, made with dried mushrooms.
• Made thicker, closer to a stew.

History

Sour, salty soup with pickles, olives and brine, made with meat, fish or mushrooms; its name relates to salt.

Frequently asked questions

What is Solyanka?

Solyanka is a soup & stew from Russia: sour-salty soup of meats, pickles, olives, lemon. Sour, salty soup with pickles, olives and brine, made with meat, fish or mushrooms; its name relates to salt.

How long does Solyanka take to make?

Solyanka takes 30 min of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Solyanka?

Yes, within limits. Any mix of cured and cooked meats and sausages. Dill pickles in brine rather than vinegar, if salted cucumbers are unavailable.

What is the most important thing to get right in Solyanka?

Add the whole onion, bay and peppercorns and simmer gently for 1 hour 30 minutes. Keep it at a bare simmer rather than a boil, which clouds it. Strain the broth and cut the meat into strips. Cut everything into matchsticks of roughly the same size. Use salted or brined cucumbers, ogurtsy, rather than sweet vinegar pickles.