In Russia, we love soups, and Solyanka is the queen of them all! Its deep, intense taste owes to the broth made with different types of meats. The key feature, however, is a distinctive sourness from brined cucumbers, olives and capers. These sour notes enliven the hearty solyanka, cutting through the richness and fats of the broth. Other ingredients include carrots and onions sautéed with tomato paste, and, sometimes, potatoes.
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For our family, there is nothing quite like a steaming bowl of solyanka on the New Year’s day! It fills you up with warmth and brings you back to life 😀
The Flavour Affair:
Meat Broth + Meats + Pickles + Onions + Carrots + Tomato Paste + Lemon
Solyanka, as many other Russian soups, heavily relies on the natural taste of its ingredients, in this case meats. The selection of raw and cured meats for the broth will define the flavours of the soup, and every household has their own favourite recipe. However, there are a few guidelines that help form a framework for choosing meats.
Bone-in cuts: bones and their surrounding tissues add a lot of richness and depth to the broth. Although bone-in beef is often preferred, you can also use chicken bones or pork ribs.
Boneless cuts: if the bone-in cut doesn’t have a lot of meat, you may need to add some boneless chunks.
Smoked or curated meats: smoky notes bring tremendous flavour benefits to the broth. Some options are smoked ribs, pork gammon, bacon or sausage.
My Meat Picks:
Over the years, I have tried many different combinations of meats to find a perfect recipe. And finally, I did! Below is my formula for the best solyanka you’ll ever try:
- Bone-in beef shank;
- Bonessless beef shanks;
- Smoked pork gammon.
With just these three types of meat, you’ll get everything you need. The bone-in shank provides a strong, savory taste, fattiness and richness. The tissues in boneless shanks dissolve during boiling, yielding very tender pieces of meat. And the smoked gammon is a game changer. It is both salty and smoky, and the cooked meat is succulent and full of flavour. It was an amazing discovery and the key to the incredible flavour of the broth.
Other Ingredients for Solyanka:
Brined cucumbers: the most important thing here is to pick brined, not pickled cucumbers. Brining uses salt water, whereas pickling uses vinegar. Brined cucumbers create that tart, sour taste that solyanka is famous for, without adding acidity.
Olives: traditionally, both green and black olives are used in solyanka.
Capers: brined capers have a lemony tang similar to that of green olives and a floral tartness of their own.
Podzharka, or zapravka, or brez: this is a term that’s hard to translate into English, although ‘brez’ actually comes from ‘braising’. This refers to thinly sliced or chopped onions sauteed with tomato paste in the fat that is collected from the surface of the soup. The end product was then packed and frozen for later use in soups or stews. While this is the traditional way of making it, these days a more popular alternative is to swap the fat for regular cooking oil, and add carrots to podzharka.
Potatoes: completely optional. I like to add a few large chunks of potatoes simply because they soak up all the amazing flavours of solyanka and are just oh so delicious.
Lemon and Herbs: a traditional way to serve solyanka is with a slice of lemon and some chopped fresh dill and/or parsley.
Preparation Tips for Solyanka:
- Every home cook pride themselves with a clean, transparent broth. To achieve that, place your meats into a large bowl filled with cold water. Start warming it up on medium to high heat. Soon, froth will start forming on the surface. Remove it as it forms but resist the temptation of turning the heat up as otherwise the broth will boil too fast, complicating the froth removal process. Patience is key at this stage.
- Once the meat stops producing more froth, and the broth is boiling gently, cover the bowl and lower the heat to minimum. Let it bubble gently for 3-4 hours. You can add some black peppercorns and a bay leaf, or let the natural flavours of the meats shine.
- When done, let the liquid cool down a bit, then take the meats out. Discard the bones, skins and fats, and cut the meat into bite size pieces.
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- If your broth still has some impurities, sieve it through a fine mesh.
- You can make it in advance and keep both the meats and the broth in the fridge for a day or two. Once the soup is refrigerated, fat will form on the surface – which is handy if you are going for the traditional brez.
- To make podzharka, thinly slice one onion and grate a large carrot. Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a pan (unless you decide to use the fat), add the onion and cook until transluscent. Then add the carrots, cook for another two minutes and stir in a table spoon of tomato paste. Season with 1/3 tsp of salt.
- Prepare the cucumbers: peel them and slice into thin half circles.
- To assemble solyanka, warm the broth up until the fact dissolves (unless you are assembling it straight away). Add potatoes, if using, and simmer until cooked. Then add the chopped meat, podzharka, sliced cucumbers, olives and capers. Warm everything through until it just starts to boil, then turn the heat off. Try and adjust for salt.
Serving Suggestions:
Finish the individual bowls off with a grind of black pepper mill and serve with a slice of lemon and chopped herbs. Fresh bread is a must! In Russia, we love to add sour cream to our soups, and solyanka is no exception. You can try it both with or without a dollop of sour cream and decide which version you like best!
Looking for more delicious, comforting soups? Make sure to try my easy Borscht recipe, or go for Hearty Lamb and Lentils Soup!
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Solyanka Recipe (Russian Meat and Pickles Soup)
Equipment
- 1 Large soup pot
- 1 medium pan
- cutting boards for cleaning meats
Ingredients
For a 3-litre soup pot:
- 1 beef shank bone in
- 600 g boneless beef shanks
- 500 g smoked pork gammon
- 1 medium onion finely chopped or thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot grated over the larger part of the grater
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 medium potatoes optional
- 3-4 medium brined cucumbers
- 1/2 can each green and black olives see notes
- 1 tbsp capers
- Lemon slices to serve
- Fresh chopped dill or parsley to garnish
- Sour cream to garnish optional
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash the meat, place into the soup pot and completely cover with cold water.
- Start warming the pot up over medium heat. As soon as froth starts to form, remove it with a spoon. Keep removing the froth until no more is produced. This typically takes 15-25 minutes.
- Cover the pot, lower the heat and simmer for 3-4 hours.
- In the meantime, prepare the ‘podzharka’. Heat 2 tbsp cooking oil to medium-high and sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes until translucent. Add the carrots and continue to fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add 1 tbsp tomato paste and continue to fry for one more minute, stirring constantly. Season with 1/3 tsp of salt and set aside.
- Peel the brined cucumbers and cut them into half circles, approximately 5mm thick.
- Drain the olives and capers (see notes).
- When the broth is ready, remove the meats and let cool. Discard bones, fats and tissues and cut into bite sized pieces.
- Check the broth. If it is not clear enough, strain through a fine mesh to get rid of all impurities.
- If using potatoes, cut them into large chunks, add to the pot with the broth and cook until they are done.
- Return the meat to the pot and add cucumbers, olives, capers and onions & carrots ‘podzharka’. Stir to combined and warm through until the soup just starts to boil.
- Turn the heat off and allow solyanka to sit at room temperature for a few hours before serving.
- Serve with a slice of lemon, chopped herbs, sour cream and fresh bread.
Notes
- You can use whole olives with or without stones. The ones with stones in give a bit more flavour, but are less ‘user-friendly’. You can also get sliced olives instead.
- The broth can be made in advance and refrigerated or even frozen until further use. If you refrigerate the broth before cooking, you may want to use some of the fat that will form on the surface to make your onions and carrots ‘podharka’ instead of cooking oil.
- Solyanka tastes best the day after, and can easily last int he fridge for 2-3 days.
