I've gotten to the point in this blog that I'm actively looking for different soups that I've never made before. One of the ways I do that is to look up soups from various countries. Shchi is a Russian soup, that is like a pozole style soup in that there are variations of the soup based on ingredients. At some point I'll try my hand at a Sour Shchi, when you use sauerkraut instead of cabbage, or Green Shchi, when you add leafy greens such as spinach and sorrel.
This particular iteration is the classic version of Shchi, but without the mushrooms or meat. This version is cabbage based, and I used carrots, celery, and tomatoes in it. There are a couple of steps that I took that aren't traditionally found in this recipe. The first step I took was to lightly cure the cabbage, thus pulling out the water from the cabbage and adding some salt and sugar to it. In the cure I used traditional fennel and dill flavors that are associated with sauerkraut, without the fermented step. The other step of this soup is to build some light acidity with wine and tomatoes.
A great accompaniment to this soup is toasted crusty bread to soak up the rich vegetable broth. I used soy sauce in this soup, so there already was gluten in the soup, but if you wanted to keep this gluten free and vegan, use tamari instead of soy, and omit the sour cream completely.
Enjoy,
Ingredients
Cabbage, chopped 1 head
Onion, julienned 3 ea
Garlic, sliced 3 cloves
Bay leaves 5 ea
Carrots, peeled and chopped 3 ea
Celery, chopped 4 ribs
Roasted vegetable puree 3 T
Dill seed, toasted 1 T
Fennel seed, toasted 1 T
Crushed red pepper 2 tsp
Salt 1/2 cup
Sugar 1/4 cup
Garlic Powder 1 T
Water 3 qt
White Wine 2 cups
Canned tomatoes 28 oz
Tomato juice 8 oz
Tomato paste 3 T
Soy Sauce 3 T
Potatoes, peeled and diced 3 ea
Dill, chopped 2 T + garnish
Sour Cream garnish
Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 T
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garnish
Sour Cream, Dill, Cracked Black Pepper
Method of Procedure
Start toasting your crushed red pepper, fennel, and dill seeds, then combine them with salt and sugar once cooled.
Rough chop your cabbage and mix the salt cure thoroughly and let stand for 2 hours.
While you cabbage is curing, get your vegetables prepped up.
Once cured, gently squeeze the extra liquid out of the cabbage.
Start with your onions and saute them with garlic until soft. Add your garlic powder and cabbage then continue to cook while stirring for about 15 minutes to get the onions and garlic mixed with the seasoned cabbage.
Add your canned tomatoes, roasted vegetable paste, tomato paste, and stir.
After the flavors have blended add white wine, water, and soy sauce.
Bring to a simmer then add your carrots, celery, and potatoes. Cook until your vegetables are softened and the flavors have blended, around 1 hour at a decent simmer.
Season to taste and serve, finishing with sour cream and fresh dill.
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