In all world culinary there is no such a huge variety of first courses as in Russian cuisine, which, while absorbing the culinary traditions of neighboring, Asian and European peoples, still retains its originality, unique style. For example, cabbage soup is not a soup made from sour or fresh cabbage, but Russian cabbage soup remains the main and unique first course for more than a thousand years, despite the enormous influence of French cuisine since the beginning of the Petrine era.
Each historical milestone leaves an indelible imprint on the culture, traditions and life of any people. Cooking is no exception. Therefore, we have to talk about cabbage soup in the context of the history, formation and development of the Russian state. Each turn of history and the formation of society has left its imprint in Russian cuisine. The adoption of Christianity in Russia was one of such stages.
Orthodox traditions in ancient Russian cuisine were strictly observed, due to which the variety of meatless dishes in it was inferior to primacy, except perhaps for vegetarian cuisine. In addition, the fasting table has always been a “privilege” of peasants and household servants - a social group, even on holidays that did not have the opportunity to add meat or other lively products to soup.
The evolution of lean soup has come a long way. Before the start of the Christian period, according to a few, historical written monuments, the component, most likely, included only one ingredient - cabbage.
The poorest cabbage soup consisted of one cabbage and onions, and they saved people in the hungry years. Maybe, for this reason, sauerkraut was and still is the main ingredient of cabbage soup and a favorite dish on any table. Vegetables from other continents, as they were "discovered", also gradually became part of cabbage soup components. So it was with tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkin, beans and many other products brought to Europe from the New World.
Beans have taken root on our table relatively recently. For the first time, Elizaveta Petrovna took care of her breeding and rearing. Then this work was continued by Catherine the Great, but until the beginning of the twentieth century, beans were a luxury that grew in small quantities only in the noble estates. To ordinary people from the bean family, only lentils and peas were known from the time of Domostroi. Therefore, cabbage soup with beans is the opening of modern Russian cuisine, which harmoniously complemented the assortment of lean tables.
Lean cabbage soup with beans - main technological features
Cabbage soup is a dish with history, so it requires a special approach to cooking, unless, of course, you think about not only the next dinner, but also about maintaining traditions. In addition, despite all the most modern technologies, ancestors always have something to learn.
What is the unique technology of Russian cabbage soup?
Cabbage soup has many varieties: rich, from different types of meat, fish, mushrooms, with eggs and sour cream or cream; empty, only from cabbage and onions. Russian cabbage soup may have some regional differences: Don, Ural, Pomeranian and other varieties that use products that are common in a particular area. Cabbage soup on the table can emphasize the social status of the owners of the house. They are fast-moving and lean, depending on the date in the Orthodox calendar, and, finally, each housewife can cook cabbage soup according to her own, family recipe, passed down from generation to generation in her family.
But there are general rules that combine all varieties of cabbage in one group.
Ingredients for cabbage soup
The constant ingredient of cabbage soup is cabbage or, as a substitute for it, sour vegetable mass (young or canned sorrel, nettle, rot). Fresh cabbage - in the summer, and pickled - in the winter; Sauerkraut - in addition to the vitamins and minerals contained in it fresh, a unique source of probiotics, lactic and ascorbic acid, and other valuable substances;
The following group of ingredients: meat of one or two, and even three types at the same time; a fish; mushrooms. These ingredients can be a component at the same time (full or rich cabbage soup), and in fish soup only fish or mushrooms are allowed;
Next - the roots of parsley, parsnip, carrots. In "pre-potato" times in Russia, Jerusalem artichoke root, undeservedly forgotten in our days, was popular: like turnips and rutabaga, it was replaced by potatoes;
An obligatory component for cabbage soup is bay leaf and pepper, celery, ginger, garlic, parsley, dill. This is a spicy dressing.
Sour dressing: fresh, soaked or baked apples, cabbage brine, sour cream or a mixture of sour cream and cream. In the southern regions, tomatoes, tomato paste or sauce can serve as acidic dressing, but cabbage brine in the classic version is not excluded.
In lean meat, dairy products are not allowed, and in the technology of cooking cabbage soup there is such a thing as whitewashing. That is, sour cream can be both acidic dressing or whitewash. In the lean version, until the 17th century, a mixture of flour with broth or water was used. In the later cabbage soup technology, when the method of cooking transparent broths was massively mastered in Russian cuisine, flour whitewash almost disappeared. But for lean soup, you can use flour to increase the calorie content of the dish. Flour, for a richer taste, can be fried to a cream color in a pan or add it to vegetables when sautéed.
As you can see, the choice of ingredients is rich, even if meat and dairy products are excluded from the list. For lean soup, you can use fish, mushrooms. This also includes beans and other beans, as they are also rich in protein. According to Christian canons, fish dishes can occasionally be included in the Lenten menu, and in Russian cuisine there are many recipes for first courses in fish broth, including cabbage soup. Given the useful composition and higher calorie content of fish broth, in comparison with vegetable decoctions, include fatty fish in the list of ingredients for lean soup.
Vinegar, lemon, cardamom, coriander, dill seeds, bay leaves, many spicy spices and roots can easily cope with a specific fishy smell: just hold the fish before cooking in the prepared solution, and cabbage soup will not smell like fish, adding nutritional value to them. The fats contained in the fish will perfectly complement the protein, which is rich in beans, and sauerkraut and spices will complement and combine all the components in a single aromatic flavor.
Now we turn to the second fundamental principle of the technology of cooking cabbage soup - heat treatment. Immediately, we note that the principle of cooking soup in a Russian oven is described below, for comparison and choosing the best option, from the existing conditions in a modern kitchen.
The classic way of heat treatment
The Russian stove, which existed for hundreds of years as the only source of heat and a home, literally in every Russian hut or royal chambers, determined the technology of heat treatment of cabbage - stewing in the "after bread" mode, that is, at a gradually decreasing temperature. Ready-made cabbage soup insisted "on a free spirit" - when the air around the iron or pot remained hot, but boiling was impossible.
In modern conditions, such a regime can be provided in an electric or gas oven, in a slow cooker, knowing that the temperature "after bread" is approximately 85-95 ° C, and not 100 ° C, as on a stove. It was the regime of prolonged languishing that provided us with a unique aroma.
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Due to the fact that the pot was placed in the oven for a long time, it was closed with a shutter to maintain the required temperature, laying the products in parts, as they were ready, was inconvenient. Therefore, they tried to lay the ingredients at the same time, and spicy roots and spices were added to cabbage soup twice: before putting the pot in the oven, and in the already prepared dish. At the end of cooking, leafy greens and whitewash were also added - sour cream, cream, a mixture of flour and water or broth.
With the open stove that replaced the Russian oven, it became convenient to pass the vegetables, subjecting them to the primary heat treatment, as was done in European cuisine, although this technology was not characteristic of East Slavic cuisine, and it is just an element of Western influence. In remote villages, up to the 80s of the last century, cabbage soup was prepared in the old way: in the morning the housewives baked bread, put the heat aside, and put a pot in the oven, in which all the components for cabbage soup were already laid. At lunchtime, the pot was taken out of the oven by a grasp, sour cream and crushed parsley were added to it, and served on the table with rye bread.
Perhaps this ancient way of cooking cabbage soup has been preserved to this day, somewhere in the Russian outback. Try to cook such cabbage soup at least in a modern oven, but be sure to use cast-iron or ceramic utensils to feel the real spirit of cheesy. After all, it was this aroma that made the whole world talk about Russian cabbage soup.
Which beans to choose for soups or cabbage soup?
"Sitting on the beans" can be quite tasty and varied, if you can understand them. Beans on a lean table are a very satisfying product. But there are two uncomfortable qualities that you definitely need to work on before making cabbage soup.
Cooking beans is tiring. For cabbage soup that languish in the oven - it's even good. In two or three hours, anything will be cooked in the languor mode. If you still decide to cook cabbage soup in haste, then bean must be wet for the night so that it swells. This technique will speed up the cooking process, and also help to remove oligosaccharides from it, which cause unpleasant sensations of bloating and intestinal colic. That is, beans, even for cooking in the oven, it is desirable to soak in water and rinse. After soaking it should be cooked until soft. Undercooked beans are harmful because they contain toxins.
The exception is yellow bean, which does not require long-term heat treatment. Young beans of this variety can even be eaten raw in salads. There is a variety of this variety - purple beans.
White beans, fine-grained - the most convenient variety for culinary processing, especially for the first dishes. By the way, it contains the smallest proportion of oligosaccharides. White beans have the most neutral flavor. It makes perfect mashed potatoes, it can be used for mashed soup. If white beans accidentally break apart in cabbage soup, this will not spoil the appearance of the dish - it just becomes different.
Red, colorful beans are ideally combined with tomatoes, requires longer soaking and cooking.
Beans came to our table, having made a thousand-year journey from Latin America. Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine also has rich experience in its preparation using exotic spices. Try to "accompany" them beans in lean soup. Just don’t overdo it, because one of the features of old Russian cuisine is the natural taste and appearance of any dish, the minimal and rational use of spices, with a specific and explainable purpose, and not for the sake of arranging a “spice parade” in one dish and drowning it from the outset Russian spirit.
1. Lazy lean cabbage soup with beans
Composition:
Sauerkraut with brine 0.6 kg
Coarse pitted prunes 50 g
Baked apples (mashed potatoes) 300 g
Red carrots 150 g
Parsley root and greens
Ground Pepper Mix 10 g
White beans, natural canned 400 g
Water 2.4 L
Garlic 15 g
Oil 100 ml
Leek 250 g
Kitchen salt
Order of preparation:
Rub the baked apples through a sieve. Slightly sprinkle the cabbage with chopped carrots, leek and parsley root, seasoning with spices. Cut the washed prune berries into thin strips. Wash the beans by folding them through a sieve or colander. Put all the prepared ingredients, except chopped parsley, in a pot with thick walls, fill with water. Stew cabbage soup for 40-50 minutes in the oven, preheating it to 100 ° C.
Try it, add spices, sprinkle with herbs before serving.
2. Lean cabbage soup with beans, mushroom caviar and tomato dressing
You will need:
Red Beans 180 g
Sauce "Krasnodar", tomato 0.5 l
Yalta onion, sweet 250 g
Cabbage 400 g (including brine)
Celery 70 g
Carrots, (net) 250 g
Fried mushrooms (caviar) 360 g
Salt
Potato (net) 350 g
Bay leaf, pepper
Parsley leaves chopped
Vegetable fat
Operating procedure:
In a pan, put beans, mushroom caviar, chopped potatoes. Add bay leaf, finely grated celery root, a mixture of ground peppers (red and black). Fill everything with water, in the ratio: two parts of water - one part of the solid mass.
Stir carrots, chopped onions and cabbage in hot oil. Pour the sauce, bring to a boil and pour into the total mass.
Cook on low heat, on the stove, for about an hour. You can cook such cabbage soup in a slow cooker, in a stew mode, and in the oven. As usual, garnish with spicy greens when serving.
3. Summer lean cabbage soup with beans and sorrel
Composition:
White beans 240 g
Sorrel (young leaves) 700 g
Carrot 150 g
Onions - Leek 250 g
Spicy roots
Bay leaf
Potato 350 g
Pepper
Flour 75 g
Oil 120 ml
Parsley and dill (leaves)
Tomato paste, natural 150 g
Salt
Cooking:
Cook the prepared beans until half cooked. Add potatoes, spicy spices and roots to it. Cook at minimum temperature. In a stewpan, passer with onion, carrots with flour until soft, and season with tomato paste. Add the stewed vegetables, five minutes before cooking, throw the chopped sorrel, after sorting it out and scalding it with boiling water. Try cabbage soup, adjust the taste if necessary. Do not forget: salt and add spicy greens to lean dishes should be the last thing. Let it brew before serving.
4. Lean cabbage soup with beans on fish stock
Ingredients Composition:
Trifle river (burbot, ruff) for broth 1.0 - 1.5 kg
Salmon fillet 1.0 kg
Lemons 180 g (for fish and sour dressing)
Potato 250 g
Olives or olives, salted 180 g
Carrot 150 g
Beans, boiled 360 g
Onions, 180 g
Celery 50 g
Parsley (green mass and root)
White cabbage, fresh 600 g
Fat, vegetable 150 ml
Tomato puree 100 g
Salt
Ground spices: cloves, coriander, pepper
Bay leaf
Cooking method:
Soak river fish in water (0 + 4 ° C), with the addition of lemon juice, zest or table vinegar. It is desirable that when the fish is lowered into the solution it is still alive. If she has already fallen asleep, then remove the gills and gut the abdomen. Soak in acidic solution (not more than 10%) until odor is removed. Do not remove the scales. Put in cold water, add carrots, chopped roots, onion, bay leaf. Stew until the fish boils, removing the foam. Filter the finished fish broth carefully. A trifle can be thrown away. Put slices of fillet, also previously aged in an acidic solution. Cook until cooked and transfer to a dish.
Cut the potatoes into bars, put in a boiling broth with bay leaves and pepper. Chop the onion and grate some more roots, chop the cabbage. Stir vegetables in a saucepan, with the addition of vegetable fat and tomato puree, combine with boiled beans, season with ground cloves and coriander. Transfer the stewed vegetables to the pan. Once it boils, add lemon juice, olives, cut into thin strips to taste, and let it boil again.Salt, add greens, cover the pan with a lid and let it brew for a bit.
Boiled fish fillet can be put on a plate and served with cabbage soup, prepare a side dish for it and serve as a second dish, or use fish as a filling for pies. Cabbage soup and pies are the wealth of the Russian table, even if it is lean.
5. Lazy lean cabbage soup with beans in the oven
Ingredients Composition:
Carrot, red 300 g
Canned Red Beans in Tomato Sauce 450 g
Sauerkraut 500 g
Salt, kitchen
Water
Onion 200 g
Spices: pepper, bay leaf
Oil 120 ml
Flour 60 g
Celery 70 g (root)
Garlic 30 g
Parsley, dill (greens)
Order of preparation:
Cabbage with brine, canned red beans in tomato, grated celery, spices, put in cast iron or ceramic heat-resistant dishes. Fill with water and put in the oven. Cook for 1.5 hours at a temperature not exceeding 100 ° C. In a dry frying pan, brown the flour, transfer it temporarily to a plate. Heat fat in a saucepan. Stew diced onions and carrots until soft. Add flour diluted with vegetable broth. Put the dressing in a pot or pan. Stir, taste. Add spicy spices if necessary. Salt. Return to the hot but off oven. Before serving, add chopped garlic, garnish with spicy leafy greens.
6. Holiday lean cabbage soup with beans and fish dumplings
Products for cooking:
Onion 80 g
Pepper
Minced fish 350 g
Ginger root 30 g
Wheat flour 50 g
White boiled beans, canned 380 g
Cabbage, including brine 800 g
Carrot 150 g
Potato 450 g
Roots and green mass, spicy (optional)
Leek 240 g
Sea salt and spices
Technology:
Squash the cabbage, and drain the brine into a separate bowl and temporarily set aside. Pour the cabbage with water and simmer until soft. Then add the stewed roots and leek, washed beans, chopped potatoes. Add water to the desired volume, bring to the boil and reduce the heat to a minimum. Dip the knels in a hot broth with a spoon. Cook slowly until cooked, constantly removing foam. At the end of cooking pour in brine, put fresh herbs. Salt, if necessary - add spices.
For knel:
In the minced fish, salt and pepper, add a little fresh ginger root, chopped parsley, flour. Grind with a blender to the consistency of the paste, beat and hold for half an hour in the cold. Divide the prepared meat with a teaspoon into portions, form small balls. Only dip them in boiling water.
Lean cabbage soup with beans - useful tips
- Before adding sauerkraut to cabbage soup, simmer it for softness. If you cook cabbage soup with potatoes, then it must be cooked before cabbage is added.
- Since any variety of beans contains a lot of starch and carbohydrates, which are very slowly cooked in an acidic environment, but still remain stiff, try to add it to cabbage soup before introducing acidic dressing, or pre-cook until cooked.
- According to popular wisdom, in the cabbage soup should be a spoon, or they should be with a slide. This means that, at a minimum, the ratio of broth to solid components should be no less than 1: 1.
