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I have never made this soup. I have a jar of shredded beets in the fridge, I was eating them in a salad, but got tired of them, Could I use these as a base for the soup? Thanks
Definitely! Yum! Can I come over and sample the finished product?
You are correct. I remember the original borscht's color comes from some vegetable?
Many places now have their own version. The version I am familiar with is the Hong Kong style. It is a standard part of a set western meal so I had it almost every other day when I was working there. Their borscht is tomato based, and has a sweet taste.
I also used chicken instead of beef. Grilled chicken breast cubes first; use the oil in pan to stir-fry onion and garlic, then add carrots and celery, finally add water, the one tomato I had left, cabbage, spaghetti sauce, and chicken and boiled for 45 min. Finally add oregano, salt, pepper, and sugar.
Since we had baked potato separately; to thicken the liquid corn starch was added.
"Real" borsht has a touch of vinegar added, you just reminded me. It's not meant to be sweet, though with the beets, carrots and potatoes, I would think it would have a subtle sweetness, offset by the vinegar. Almost a Chinese sweet-and-sour effect, though don't tell any Russians I said that!
Your version sounds good, except for the spaghetti sauce.
There are some variations, but I had an old Ukrainian nanny in the 60-70s, and she made this iconic beet soup with beef, beets, cabbage, potatoes, green (or white) beans, carrots, peeled diced tomatoes, some chopped onions and red bell peppers, parsnip, garlic and dill, and then served with a dollop of sour cream and home made rye bread.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
"Real" borsht has a touch of vinegar added, you just reminded me. It's not meant to be sweet, though with the beets, carrots and potatoes, I would think it would have a subtle sweetness, offset by the vinegar. Almost a Chinese sweet-and-sour effect, though don't tell any Russians I said that!
Your version sounds good, except for the spaghetti sauce.
I remember my Mom using a touch of sour salt(citric acid) to get the same effect.
I thought borscht was a specific thing (beets) - never heard of these variations w/tomato sauce especially.
The history I heard goes like this:
In 1917 many Russians fled the country to escape Russian communists. A number went to Shanghai and brought borscht there. Due to beets not locally available or widely available, they used tomato to generate the same color, and also made it sweeter which is the signature taste of that region.
Then in 1949 many Shanghai people fled to Hong Kong to again escape the Chinese Communists. They brought the soup to HK and now it became an HK local dish.
Was going to say as much. By definition, borscht is a soup made from beets. There are lots of versions, with variations to different meats used, or vegetables included (although cabbage is a given), but the beets are what make it borscht.
What the OP is describing sounds like it should be called tomato soup, if in fact there are no beets.
Was going to say as much. By definition, borscht is a soup made from beets. There are lots of versions, with variations to different meats used, or vegetables included (although cabbage is a given), but the beets are what make it borscht.
What the OP is describing sounds like it should be called tomato soup, if in fact there are no beets.
Or........ spaghetti/pasta sauce
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