🇷🇺 Russian Federation · Russia (Moscow and Leningrad forms)
RassolnikRussian pickle soup
Russian sour soup of pickled cucumbers and their brine (rassol) with pearl barley, root vegetables or potatoes and, in the classic form, kidneys, served hot with sour cream and dill.
Origin and history
Rassolnik descends from kalya, a sour soup of pickled cucumbers and brine with meat or fish that is mentioned in the 1550s Domostroi. It is named for rassol, the cucumber brine. In the 18th century wealthy households cooked it with caviar. The Moscow version used chicken broth, tripe and kidneys; the Leningrad version with potatoes and pearl barley was developed around 1918 and 1919 by cooks of a public-cafeteria association during post-revolution shortages.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 2 h 30 min
- Hands-on
- 45 min
Ingredients
- 1 kg2.2 lb beef brisket or other beef on the bone, or chicken legs
- 2.5 l2.5 qt cold water
- 75 g1/3 cup pearl barley, rinsed, soaked in cold water overnight
- 300 g2/3 lb beef or veal kidneys, optional, classic; membranes removed, cut in pieces
- 1 tsp baking soda, only if using kidneys
- 1 tbsp white vinegar, only if using kidneys
- 3 potatoes, peeled, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 carrot, grated or in thin strips
- 1 parsley root, in strips; optional
- 3 medium salt-brined (not vinegar) pickled cucumbers, cut in strips or small dice
- 100 mlscant 1/2 cup pickle brine (rassol), strained; add to taste
- 1 tbsp butter or clarified butter
- 2 bay leaves
- sour cream, dill and parsley, to serve
- salt and black pepper, to taste, go lightly: the pickles are salty
Method
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1. Put the meat in the cold water, bring to a boil, skim and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours (45 minutes for chicken), until tender.
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2. If using kidneys, sprinkle them with the baking soda, add the vinegar after 10 minutes, and after another 10 minutes rinse them, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Drain, rinse, cover with fresh water and simmer, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes.
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3. Cook the soaked barley separately in about 400 ml (1 2/3 cups) of fresh water for 30 minutes, until nearly tender.
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4. Lift out the meat, strain the broth and return it to the pot; cut the meat and kidneys into small pieces.
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5. Melt the butter in a pan and soften the onion, carrot and parsley root for 5 to 8 minutes.
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6. Add the pickled cucumbers and a few spoons of broth and stew over low heat for 15 to 25 minutes.
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7. Bring the broth to a boil, add the potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, until soft; sour ingredients go in only after the potatoes are cooked.
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8. Add the barley with its cooking water, the vegetable and pickle mixture, the kidneys and the bay leaves, and simmer 15 minutes.
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9. Add the meat and pickle brine bit by bit, tasting, until the sourness is right; season lightly with salt and pepper.
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10. Serve hot with sour cream, dill and parsley.
Notes
- This recipe follows the Leningrad form (barley and potatoes). The older Moscow form used chicken broth with tripe and kidneys, with plenty of white roots, and was enriched with an egg-and-milk liaison. Sources disagree on what is 'classic': Russian recipes differ on kidneys, barley, rice and tomato.
- Taste the soup before adding brine: pickles differ in saltiness, and adding brine early can make the soup too sour. Use brine from barrel-style or salt-brined cucumbers, not sweet or vinegar pickles, and under-salt the pot.
- Barley is soaked and cooked on its own, as in the Moscow Times recipe, so that it softens without thickening the broth.
- Chicken broth or a meatless version with mushrooms (a mushroom kalya) are also made; one 1796 recipe uses pressed caviar, and the Russian Life recipe adds cabbage.
Adapted from The Moscow Times, Russian revolutionary rassolnik, Russian Life, Anti-hangover soup, T-Zh (Russian), Rassolnik, classic recipe, and UNIAN (Russian), Rassolnik recipes, kidney preparation.
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