Borscht Recipe

by Katya

Now you may think to yourself clicking on this post…how do you make borscht in Japan with the lack of beets. My answer to you is you do so by ordering beets through Amazon or Rakuten. There is basically one farmer that grows them to sell online and that is Chien no Uen in Kanagawa. I typically purchase them two kilos at a time because I love beets and miss them intensely but you only need one kilo, really. I used to be able to buy huge beets at the old theatre-turned-grocery store in my hometown, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, which is full of Eastern European immigrants. Misleading for the English lot, but I digress.

If you are looking for a comforting soup that is easy to turn into meal prep for the week this is a good option. I will be listing substitutions for other difficult to source ingredients. Also, you can add more or less cabbage as you wish…I just also love cabbage.

If you would like to make this vegetarian, you can ignore the request for meat and bone and instead focus on the vegetable stock part. I recommend increasing the vegetables used for the stock and simmer for a longer period of time or supplement the flavour with your favourite vegetable bouillon.

If you follow the volume I make here, it makes about 10 servings. Which for me…I devour within the week.

Ingredients

  • Two large carrot
  • Three large beets
  • Two large yellow onion
  • Two large potatoes
  • Root celery
  • Root radish
  • One head of cabbage
  • Beef with bone
    • If you can not find beef with bone attached, then substitute the bone with beef boullion cubes (NOT consomme…it’s not the same)
  • Bone (optional)
    • If you can not find beef with bone attached, but would like to do something funny or be extra, you can actually order bones from this website. I usually order two bags of it at a time because I make a lot of stock.
  • Bay Leaf
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Tomato Paste
  • Olive oil
  • White vinegar
  • Dill
  • Water

For serving

  • Sour Cream
  • Bread

Steps

  • In a large stew pot, add as much water as you want stock. Generally for me that is 3,000-3,500 mL of water. Add salt to it and boil.
  • Then add in either the meat and bone or the meat and beef bouillon.
    • If using a bouillon, add as much as the directions say you need for the amount of water you used. The meat will also only need to be cooked until softened, as the bouillon is already made.
  • As the meat boils, skim the impurities that float to the top with a mesh ladle. You can use a large spoon ladle if you don’t have a mesh one.
  • While the meat is boiling, cube the root vegetables to put in later.
    • These would be the onion, celery, radish, beets, and carrots
  • If using bone-in meat, once the meat is easy to pull off the bone, remove the meat and bones. Then, cut or take the meat off the bone and put it back into the simmer water.
  • While the meat is simmering, add the cubed root vegetables to the pot. Cook on a rolling boil with the vegetables covered.
  • Once the beets and carrots are soft enough to stick a fork into easily, take them out and let the other vegetables continue to boil until they are dead and all the flavour has been sucked out of them.
    • My dad used to simmer the meat and vegetables for about three to four hours while changing out the vegetables as needed and adding water when it got too low. You can do this, but frankly, it’s not needed.
    • Make sure to keep skimming the surface as needed.
  • Whilst the stock is boiling, it’s best to grate the softened carrots and beets to be eventually roasted.
    • This is the most tiring process. If you have an electric grater or something to process vegetables I recommend it. The point is for them to be strip-like.
  • Once the stock is to your taste, remove all the dead vegetables and drop the pot to a simmer, continuing to simmer the meat. At this point, cube all the potatoes and put them in the pot with the meat. If you need to, cube the meat into bite-sized portions.
  • Once grated, add to a saucepan with olive (or other type) oil, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Roast the vegetables until caramelized (about 15 minutes, depending on the volume).
  • After roasting, if the potatoes are cooked in the stock, add in the roasted vegetables. At this point, also add the bay leaf, salt, pepper, and white vinegar, adjusting to your liking.
  • Simmer this for about 15-20 minutes
  • While it’s simmering, cut the cabbage into thin strips and add them to the pot after the simmering period. Also, add in the dill and simmer for 5 more minutes or until the cabbage is soft.
  • Take out the bay leaf and serve.
  • Best served with bread and sour cream, but rice is also a good sub.

I hope you enjoy a yummy soup and your new life doused in red.