Hrybnyi Borshch (грибний борщ, mushroom borshch)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A big modern stockpot
• •A fine sieve lined with muslin or paper towel
• •A wide pan for the zasmazhka
• •A box grater

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the mushrooms

   Rinse the dried mushrooms quickly under cold water to loosen grit, then put them in a bowl and cover with 1 litre of just-boiled water. Leave them until they soften and the water turns dark as tea. Lift the mushrooms out with your fingers, rubbing away any sand, then chop them roughly. Strain the soaking liquor through a fine sieve lined with muslin or paper towel. Keep every drop that is clean. That dark water is your broth's backbone.

   Do not pour the mushroom liquor straight from the bowl into the pot. The last spoonful often carries sand, and sand is the one texture nobody forgives.
2. 2

   Start the broth

   Pour the strained mushroom liquor into a big stockpot with the remaining 1.5 litres water, the chopped mushrooms, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a cautious pinch of salt. Bring it to a quiet simmer, the kind that nudges the edge of the pot rather than throws itself around. Cook until the mushrooms no longer squeak under your teeth and the broth smells deep and brown.

3. 3

   Add the body

   Add the potatoes to the mushroom broth and let them soften at the edges before the cabbage and beans go in. The cabbage should slump, not disappear. If the pot looks crowded, good. Borshch should feed the room, enough for eight guests or one hungry Ukrainian.

4. 4

   Build the zasmazhka

   Warm the sunflower oil in a wide pan and add the onion. Let it turn translucent over a low flame before the carrots and parsnip join it. You're not browning anything. You're coaxing sweetness. Add the grated beets and tomato paste with a ladle of mushroom broth, then cook slowly until the oil stains orange-red and the beet smell changes from raw cellar to sweet earth.

   This is the step that makes a meatless pot taste full. The zasmazhka goes in late so its sweetness sits brightly on the broth instead of flattening into the stock.
5. 5

   Sour the pot

   Scrape the beet zasmazhka into the stockpot and stir until the whole broth turns beet-crimson. Add the beet zakwas or fermented tomato mors, then the garlic. Keep the soup at a gentle tremble, not a hard boil, so the sourness stays clean. Taste. You want mushroom depth first, then beet sweetness, then a little bright slap at the end.

6. 6

   Finish and rest

   Adjust the salt and black pepper, then fold in most of the dill and pull the pot off the heat. Let it sit before serving; borshch gathers itself when you stop poking at it. Ladle into deep bowls with more dill on top and a thread of green sunflower oil. On non-fasting days, add smetana. On fasting days, leave it off and don't feel cheated.

Chef Tips

• •The dried mushrooms are the step that doesn't forgive a shortcut. Fresh mushrooms alone make a thinner, sweeter soup; even 20g dried porcini will teach the pot what it is.
• •Beet zakwas gives the cleanest souring. Fermented tomato mors is my southern habit and brings a warmer tomato note. Sauerkraut brine works in a pinch; add it little by little so it doesn't take over.
• •For strict fasting days, skip the smetana and finish each bowl with unrefined sunflower oil. It is Ukraine in a bottle of oil, green-gold and nutty.
• •The chopping forgives you. Grate the beets, cut them into matchsticks, or use the food processor if supper is chasing you. What matters is cooking them until the smell changes.
• •This borshch is better the next day. The mushrooms darken the broth, the beets settle, and the souring stops shouting.

Advance Preparation

• •The dried mushrooms can be soaked overnight in cold water in the fridge; the liquor will be darker and gentler.
• •If making beet zakwas at home, start it several days ahead and keep the beets fully under their brine.
• •The finished borshch keeps well for 4 days in the fridge and improves after one night.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 510g)