Shchi (Cabbage Soup)
So you've just picked up a box of food from your local food bank, or from an organization such as Angel Food or SHARE Food, and there among the familiar meats, fruits and vegetables is a big green head of cabbage. Obviously you don't want to let it go to waste, but you don't have the first idea what to do with it.
Here's a recipe for a tasty and filling soup that exists in variations all over northern Europe, wherever cabbages are commonly grown. It goes by many names, including the Russian "shchi," from which comes one of the first phrases I learned as an undergraduate studying the language: "shchi da kasha pisha nasha," which means "cabbage soup and buckwheat porridge are our diet." (The food in student accommodations in the former Soviet Union are notorious for its cheapness and poor quality).
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions
- 1 small head cabbage
- 2 carrots
- 2 potatoes
- 1 stalk celery
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups beef broth
- water
Directions
Shred the cabbage, cutting as close to the central stem as possible. Coarsely chop the onions and tomatoes. Cut the potatoes into cubes. Slice the carrots and celery. Place all vegetables in a slow cooker with broth and salt. Add water to bring level of fluid above the vegetables. Cook on high for 6-8 hours.
If you do not have a slow cooker, shchi can be cooked in a large stock pot or dutch oven for about 30 minutes, or until tender. However, using a slow cooker gives the advantage of being able to start it in the morning and having it ready when you get home in the evening.
The traditional Russian presentation of shchi is to serve it with a generous dollop of sour cream on top. However, if you don't have sour cream in your fridge, there's no reason to run out and buy some -- this soup is tasty enough without.
Like many "peasant" soups and stews, shchi is easily expanded to serve any number of people, simply by adding a little more of one or another ingredient that you have on hand in abundance. For instance, my great-grandmother never worried when one or more of her brood of nine decided to bring a friend over for supper unannounced. She would just peel another potato or two and add them to whatever soup or stew was on the stove for that evening, and there would be enough for everyone.
At the other end of the spectrum, if you have only two or three to feed, shchi is still good as a leftover. It will hold in the refrigerator for up to a week, and in the freezer for a month or more. When I was a graduate student, I would regularly make a pot of shchi when I got my monthly stipend check and then parcel it out into single servings I could reheat throughout the month.
Posted January 29, 2010
