Solyanka
What makes a soup solyanka is the combination nothing else has: three or four cured meats in one pot, brined pickles with a splash of their brine, olives, capers, and a slice of lemon dropped in at the table. The result is sour, salty and smoky at once, thick enough that the spoon meets resistance. It began as a tavern soup built from whatever cured meat was on hand, which is still the honest way to make it — a lone leftover sausage end belongs in this pot. Sour cream and dill go on top, never into the pot.
Ingredients
- 600 gbeef or pork on the bone
- 300 gsmoked ribs
- 200 gham
- 200 gsmoked sausage
- 2 onions
- 2 pickled cucumbers
- 100 golives
- 50 gcapers
- 2 tbsptomato sauce or ketchup
- 2 tbspvegetable oil
- 1 tbspbutter
- 1 bay leaves
- 3 allspice peas
- 1 bunchfresh parsley
- 1 lemon
- to servesour cream
- to tastesalt and freshly ground pepper
Method
- Place beef and smoked ribs in a pot, pour 2.5-3 liters of water, add one whole peeled onion and bring to a boil. Remove foam, reduce heat and cook on low heat for 2 hours.
- 15 minutes before the broth is ready, add allspice. When the meat is ready, remove it, separate from the bones and cut into small pieces. Remove the onion from the broth.
- In vegetable oil, fry finely chopped onions until golden, then add tomato sauce or ketchup and stew for a few minutes. Add sliced pickles and a little broth, and stew for another 5-7 minutes.
- Add the prepared meat ingredients (beef, smoked ribs, ham, smoked sausage), roasted vegetables, olives, capers and bay leaf to the broth. Bring to a boil. Cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes.
- Serve hot, garnished with fresh parsley, with sour cream and a slice of lemon.
FAQ
Solyanka is a refrigerator-clearing soup: traditionally it uses up all leftover cured and cooked meats. The minimum lineup is boiled beef or chicken for the broth plus 2–3 smoked items (sausage, frankfurters, ham, smoked ribs). The smoked meats are what give solyanka its signature smokiness — without them the soup is just a sour meat broth. The rule: at least three types of meat, and at least one must be smoked.
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Comments (1)
The size of your dice determines the character of this solyanka. Large pieces of beef give a rustic, hearty soup. Fine dice gives elegance. I cut everything to match — uniformity matters more than size.