Spending the holiday seasons alone and abroad is pretty
intimidating. It’s nice to have local friends to fill one’s free time. One
night some of my friends came over to teach me how to make solyenka, a Russian meat
soup.
I tried this soup first in a restaurant in Kazan and wasn’t
impressed. But after discussing recipes at the banya with the ladies, I decided
to give this soup another try, and it was so worth it. Think of it as a Russian
pizza soup (minus the cheese and mayo). Or as some Russians advise me, it’s the
best soup to cure a hangover.
Ingredients (8-10 servings)
Four pieces
of beef with bone (look for little fat, or cut this off before, and mostly
bone)
1 lbs of
beef, cubed
10 cups of
water
A log of pepperoni,
cut into matchsticks
4 hot dogs
(We bought two different kinds, milk and “normal”), slice like coins
1/3 lb of
cured ham, about a cm cubed
A jar of
pickles (salted pickles, rather than vinegar pickles is more common here), cut
into matchsticks
1 onion,
diced
¼ cup of
tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 jar of
whole green olives, sliced in half long-ways
1 can of
black olives, sliced in half long-ways (Save the juice)
Salt to your
taste
Lemon, capers,
and sour cream for plating
1. Place the beef in a large pot with water. Let
water boil into a broth for about 2 hours. While the broth is developing take a
spoon and scoop off the foam that forms on top. The foam isn’t necessarily a
problem. Without it, the broth is more pure and looks prettier. You can make
the broth at any time, just refrigerate until use.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F
3.
Place cured meats in a pan and place into the
oven for 10-15 minutes. This allows you to throw away some of the fat.
4.
Place onion, pickles and tomato paste into a
frying pan until onions are cooked. Add to broth.
5.
Add meats, bay leaves, olive juice and olives to
soup.
6.
Let it simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt to your
taste.
7.
Cut the insides of the lemon in to eighths (no
rind or pith). Place a lemon slice and a spoonful of capers at the bottom of
each bowl. Then ladle the soup on top and add a dollop of sour cream on
top. Enjoy!
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