Green Borshch
Sorrel soup with potato, egg and a spoon of sour cream — sharp, green and quick. The soup that tells a Ukrainian household spring has arrived.
About this dish
Green borshch shares almost nothing with the red kind but the name: no beetroot, no long simmer, no keeping. It is made the week sorrel comes up, and sorrel does not wait — the leaves turn coarse within a fortnight, so the soup has a season measured in days. Its sourness comes from the leaf itself rather than from beet kvas or vinegar, which is why nobody adds either. The hard-boiled egg is not a garnish but the counterweight: sorrel is acidic enough to need something soft and rich against it.
- Gluten-free
- Not vegetarian because of Chicken stock
- Contains dairy because of Sour cream, to serve
Ingredients
- 2lChicken stock
- 500gPotatoes
- 300gSorrel
- 1pieceOnion
- 1pieceCarrot
- 4piecesEggs
- 40gSpring onions
- 20gFresh dill
- 20gFlat-leaf parsley
- 30mlSunflower oil
- 2piecesBay leaves
- 8gFine sea salt
- 2gGround black pepper
- 180gSour cream, to serve
Instructions
Hard-boil the eggs for 9 minutes, cool them under running water and peel. Halve or quarter them and set aside.
10 minTip: Nine minutes, not twelve: the yolk should be set but still bright. A chalky grey yolk crumbles into the soup instead of holding together in the bowl.
Bring the stock to a simmer, add the peeled and diced potatoes with the bay leaves and cook for 12 minutes, until the potato is nearly tender.
12 minTip: Nearly, not fully — the potato keeps cooking in the hot soup afterwards, and there is no recovering a pan of potato that has gone to porridge.
Meanwhile soften the onion and carrot in the oil over medium heat for 8 minutes, then stir them into the pan.
8 minTip: Softening first is worth the extra pan. Onion dropped raw into stock stays sweet and sharp; cooked in fat it turns round and carries the whole soup.
Shred the sorrel and spring onions, add them with the salt and pepper, and cook for no more than 3–4 minutes.
5 minTip: Sorrel collapses from bright green to olive in about a minute, and that colour is most of the point. Add it last, cook it briefly, and take the pan off the heat while it still looks fresh.
Stir in the dill and parsley off the heat. Serve with the egg in the bowl and a spoon of sour cream.
3 minTip: The cream goes into the bowl rather than the pan: stirred into a hot acidic soup it can split, and each person wants a different amount anyway.