Try this Hot Borscht recipe, or contribute your own.
- Carbohydrate 119.47069680404 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 1.63330478305785 g
- Fiber 25.8461782915079 g
- Protein 11.2647191322314 g
- Saturated Fat 0.349370797176309 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (1854g)
- Sodium 4103.59015943526 mg
- Sugar 93.6245185125319 g
- Trans Fat 0.462230450860881 g
- Calories 506 calories
Step-by-step
- Peel beets and shred coarsely.
- Chop carrots, onions, celery and parsnip.
- Boil stock and add beets, carrots, onions, celery and parsnip.
- Simmer covered 20 minutes.
- Add cabbage, tomato, sugar and garlic on toothpick.
- Simmer 15 minutes until cabbage is tender.
- Remove garlic.
- Top with dill (fresh is best) and ff sour cream if you are so inclined.
- Serve hot.
Beets derive their deep crimson color from betalain pigments, which degrade rapidly when exposed to prolonged high heat and oxygen. Maintaining a gentle, covered simmer rather than a rolling boil protects these water-soluble compounds from thermal destruction. Vegetable stock acts as the extraction medium, dissolving sugars and earth-derived geosmin compounds from the roots.
Managing Root Vegetable Cell Walls
Pectin holds the cell walls of root vegetables intact. Acidic ingredients like tomato pulp must go into the pot only after the beets, carrots, onions, celery, and parsnip have softened for 20 minutes. Introducing acid too early locks the pectin molecules, keeping the vegetables unpleasantly crunchy regardless of how long the pot cooks. Shredding the beets coarsely instead of grating them to a fine puree prevents the soup from turning murky while maximizing surface area for flavor extraction. A standard heavy-bottomed Dutch oven distributes heat evenly, though a standard stainless steel stockpot works if stirred frequently to prevent scorching at the base.
- Browning or dulling of the soup color indicates the heat was set too high during the initial boil.
- Crunchy root vegetables mean the acidic tomatoes were added before the initial 20-minute softening window elapsed.
- Floating sulfur smells signal that the cabbage cooked past 15 minutes and began releasing volatile compounds.
