Kapusniak (капусняк, sauerkraut soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A big modern stockpot
• •A wide pan for the zasmazhka
• •A fine sieve for rinsing millet
• •A ladle deep enough for generous bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the broth

   Put the smoked pork in a big pot with the cold water, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Bring it slowly to a quiet simmer, skimming anything grey that rises. Keep it gentle until the meat loosens and the broth smells smoky and full, about an hour, but listen to the pot more than the clock.

   Smoked meat brings salt with it, so don't season hard at the start. Taste later, after the kraut has had its say.
2. 2

   Prepare the kraut

   Taste the sauerkraut. If it is cleanly sour, use it as it is. If it bites like a winter wind, rinse only half under cold water and keep the rest sharp. Chop any long strands so they sit easily on the spoon, and save the brine for adjusting the pot at the end.

3. 3

   Add potatoes and millet

   Lift the pork from the pot and set it aside until cool enough to handle. Add the potatoes and rinsed millet to the broth and simmer until the potatoes begin to give at the edges and the millet blooms soft and pale. The sound changes here, from watery tapping to a thicker, quieter bubble.

4. 4

   Simmer the kraut

   Stir in the sauerkraut and return the picked pork meat to the pot. Let everything simmer until the kraut softens but still keeps a little chew, and the broth tastes sour, smoky, and grain-thickened. If it tastes flat, add a spoon or two of reserved brine. If it tastes too fierce, let it cook a little longer and soften itself.

5. 5

   Build the zasmazhka

   Warm the sunflower oil or skimmed pork fat in a wide pan and add the onion. Cook it low and slow until translucent, then add the carrot and keep going until the carrot softens and the fat turns orange-gold. You're not browning. You're coaxing sweetness.

   Add the zasmazhka near the end. Its sweetness should sit brightly against the sour broth, not disappear into it.
6. 6

   Finish the pot

   Scrape the zasmazhka into the soup with the smashed garlic and most of the dill. Simmer a few minutes more, then taste for salt, pepper, and sourness. Pull it off the heat and let it rest until the surface glows with small orange beads and the smell has settled from sharp kraut to something rounder.

7. 7

   Serve with smetana

   Ladle big bowls, scatter over the remaining dill, and put cold smetana on the table so each person can round the sourness to their own mouth. Rye bread is good here. Pampushky are never unwelcome.

Chef Tips

• •If your sauerkraut is pasteurized and quiet, sharpen the soup with a little of its brine or a spoon of juice from another ferment. Vinegar works in a crisis, but it tastes thinner.
• •Millet must be rinsed well. If the water runs cloudy and you rush it, the grain can bring bitterness, and kapusniak has enough attitude already.
• •Beans instead of millet are common in some homes, especially farther west. A bit more modern, or simply your family's way, and the pot will still know what it is.
• •This soup improves overnight. The kraut calms, the smoke settles, and the millet thickens the broth without making it gluey.

Advance Preparation

• •The broth can be made a day ahead; chill it with the meat, then skim or keep the fat for the zasmazhka.
• •Kapusniak is better the next day. Reheat gently and loosen with a splash of water if the millet has thickened it too much.
• •If using very sour homemade kraut, taste it before cooking and decide whether to rinse half. Keep the brine for final adjustment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 525g)