Solyanka Soup

Solyanka is rich Eastern European soup especially adored by meat lovers as includes several types of meat, and a lot of it! Really, carnivore's haven :)

Blog's Category: International, USSR-era Recipes

Solyanka

Intro

In any restaurant on a territory of former USSR, you, most likely, will find solyanka on a menu. I'm not the biggest fan of this dish (geee..I'm vegetarian..) but can totally understand why people love it - there is abundance of meat in it, meat of any sorts - classic version of  solyanka even includes kidneys as one of the elements. The recipe below doesn't have kidneys but is the most popular type of solyanka - with smoked meat, pork and salami as a meat components.
But the most distinguished feature of solyanka is its sour base achieved by adding pickles, capers and olives to the soup and finished up with a slice of lemon as a garnish and additional element.
If to think about it, it's actually very balanced soup, rich and heavy meats are stabilized by sour nature of the soup. But no worries, this sourness equalized with some sugar added in a process and freshened up with fresh herbs.


What is it?

A lot of meats, one of which has to be smoked, cooked up together; pickles, capers, olives and tomato paste are added then to the stock. Soup finished up with sour cream, fresh herbs and slice of lemon.

Taste Description

Meaty, rich flavors married happily with a concentrated sweet and sour taste of a soup base. Magically, flavors, taste and textures are joint all together into smoky-pickly-herby luscious symphony of sensations. But don't overindulge yourself, this rich in all its meanings soup has to be consumed in moderation. As my dad was always saying - it ain't tasty anymore if you have ample of it.

How to Serve

Serve in a small bowls, piping hot, with "the must" garnishes - fresh herbs (dill or parsley), dollop of sour cream and thin slice of lemon.

Solyanka

• 1-2 small pieces of smoked meat (any type - from pork shouder to turkey drumstick)
• 1 lb of pork, beef, chicken or all together
• 1/3 lb salami, diced
• 1/3 lb ham, diced
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 2 5" pickles, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup capers, roughly smashed (or pulsed in a processor)
• 1.5 cup olives (any type)
• fresh parsley or dill, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• black pepper to taste
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbs sugar
• some lemon slices for garnish
• some sour cream to serve

- In a large pot, cook smoked and raw meat until fully cooked and falling apart. Fish out meat pieces from a broth and set aside to cool it down a bit then separate meat from a bones and tear  or cut it a small pieces. Set aside.

- Meanwhile, prepare tomato sauce - in skillet, cook onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add tomato paste, black pepper and cup or two of water. Simmer for a couple minutes until it's smooth.

- Return chopped meat back in a pot with a stock, add diced salami, ham, pickles, capers, olives, tomato sauce, salt, sugar and couple bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for about 40-60 minutes until all flavors are incorporated.

- Taste, adjust salt and sugar. Don't be afraid to add sugar - you may need to add it more to balance acidity level to your liking.

- Serve with sour cream, fresh herbs and lemon. And Enjoy!


Notes

- Sometimes I end up with a way too fatty soup. In this case, in addition to skimming some fat off the surface during cooking, I remove solidified fat from a top after soup will rest in a fridge for some time. You can lighten up the soup this way too - your body will thank you later;)

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IN PICTURES

Add bay leaves now or later - they will give a great base flavor to your stock.

Use good quality ham, not chopped-all-together-unknown-parts type.

..almost done...