Rassolnik (pickle and barley soup)

Rassolnik is a tangy, hearty Russian soup whose signature is pickled cucumber and its brine. In the past it was cooked with salted fish or offal; today beef or chicken is more common. The barley thickens it and makes it filling.

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Method

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1. Soak the pearl barley in cold water for 1 hour, then drain. ⏱ Timer: 1 h
2. Bring the meat to the boil in 2.5 litres of cold water, skim, add bay leaves and peppercorns and simmer for 45 minutes. Salt at the end. ⏱ Timer: 45 min
3. Remove and slice the meat. Add the barley to the broth and cook for 20 minutes. ⏱ Timer: 20 min
4. Dice the onion, grate the carrot and pickles and soften them in oil for 8 minutes. ⏱ Timer: 8 min
5. Add the diced potatoes to the soup, cook for 10 minutes, then stir in the fried vegetables, the brine and the meat. ⏱ Timer: 10 min
6. Cook for another 5-6 minutes, season to taste and serve with sour cream and dill. ⏱ Timer: 5 min

A Receptnaptár original recipe. Calories and protein are estimated.

Tips

• Add the brine at the end and taste as you go, because pickles vary in strength.
• Peel the pickles if the skin is tough, otherwise it can turn bitter in the soup.
• Soak the barley ahead; without soaking it stays hard for a long time.
• It is fine without sour cream, but with it the flavour feels round.

Frequently asked questions

Can rice replace barley?

Yes, rice is faster and cooks in 20 minutes, but barley is the original.

Why not salt at the start?

The pickles and brine are salty, so it is easy to over-salt.

Similar recipes

• Mushroom soup with pearl barley (gribnoy sup) · Russian
• Kulesh (millet soup with bacon) · Russian
• Pearl barley kasha with meat and onion (perlovka) · Russian
• Buckwheat kasha with butter and onion (grechnevaya kasha) · Russian
• Pearl barley soup · Hungarian
• Graupensuppe (Gerstensuppe) (pearl barley soup with smoked meat and root vegetables) · German

More russian ideas

• Tyurya (rye bread and onion kvass soup)
• Split pea soup with smoked meat (gorokhovy sup)
• Soup with meatballs (sup s frikadelkami)
• Russian chicken noodle soup (kurinaya lapsha)
• Svekolnik (cold beet soup with kefir)
• Potato soup with mushrooms (kartofelny sup)

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