AI-generated image
Barszcz czerwony (Christmas Eve beetroot broth)
Clear beetroot soup
Clear Wigilia barszcz, sweet-sour and ruby red
Barszcz czerwony wigilijny is the clear, ruby-coloured beetroot broth that opens the Christmas Eve supper in most Polish homes, from Warsaw to Wrocław. It is not the thick vegetable soup of Ukraine but a sipping broth, sweet, sour and earthy, sharpened with beetroot kvass or lemon and deepened with dried forest mushrooms; on 24 December it is served with tiny mushroom dumplings called uszka, and through winter people drink it from mugs alongside a croquette. It is fully plant-based, as the Wigilia table traditionally is. Chef's tip: once the beetroot is in, never let the soup boil hard; a bare simmer keeps the colour bright, and boiling turns it a dull brown.
- Total time
- 90 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the vegetable broth
- 1 carrotpeeled and halved
- 1 parsley rootpeeled and halved; or a small parsnip
- 3 ½ oz celeriacpeeled, in a chunk
- ½ leekwhite part only
- 1 onionhalved and charred cut-side down in a dry pan
- 8 ¼ cups water
For the barszcz
- 1 ¾ lb raw beetrootpeeled and thinly sliced
- 2 cloves garliccrushed
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 3 tbsp lemon juiceor 250 ml beetroot kvass (zakwas buraczany)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 ½ tsp salt
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (8)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Soak ⅔ oz dried porcini mushrooms in 300 ml hot water for 30 minutes. Lift out, keeping the water, and strain the water through a coffee filter or kitchen paper to remove grit.
30 minStep 2: Put 1 carrot, 1 parsley root, 3 ½ oz celeriac, ½ leek, 1 onion, 4 allspice berries, 2 bay leaves and 6 black peppercorns in a large pot with 8 ¼ cups water, the mushrooms and their strained soaking liquid. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently, half covered, for 40 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft and the broth smells rich.
40 minStep 3: Strain the broth and discard the vegetables (or keep the mushrooms to fill uszka). Return the broth to the pot.
Step 4: Add 1 ¾ lb raw beetroot and 2 cloves garlic and bring just to a simmer over a medium-low heat. Cook at a bare shiver, with only a few bubbles rising, for 20–25 minutes, until the beetroot is pale and the broth is deep red.
25 minStep 5: Strain again through a fine sieve. Add 1 tsp dried marjoram, 3 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp sugar and 1 ½ tsp salt, then taste: it should be clearly sweet-sour and earthy. Adjust with more lemon or sugar a little at a time.
Step 6: Warm through without boiling and serve in cups or shallow bowls. A common mistake is adding the acid too early and then boiling: the colour fades. Add it at the end, and if you reheat, do it gently.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 60 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 13 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does barszcz czerwony (Christmas Eve beetroot broth) take?
- About 90 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 65 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of dried porcini mushrooms?
- Aubergine, diced, same weight.
- What can I use instead of carrot?
- Parsnip or sweet potato, same weight.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Tiyula itumBlack beef soup
Tiyula itum, 'black soup', is the pride of the Tausug people of Sulu in the far south of the Philippines, cooked for weddings, Eid celebrations and when guests come home. Beef (it is a halal, pork-free dish) is simmered with ginger, lemongrass and turmeric, then darkened with pamapa itum, a paste of grated coconut toasted until almost black and pounded with spices. The broth looks dramatic but tastes smoky, earthy and gently peppery, with heat from chillies. Serve it with plain rice. Chef's tip: toast the coconut slowly, stirring all the time, until it is very dark brown but not ashy; burnt-to-ash coconut tastes bitter and ruins the soup.
Filipino
Ful nabitSprouted fava bean soup
Sprouted beans are ladled out with their cooking liquor in Cairo homes when the weather turns cold or someone is feeling run down, and Egyptians swear by the broth as a pick-me-up. The beans are soaked and left to sprout for a few days, then simmered with onion, garlic and cumin into a light, earthy soup that is sharpened at the table with plenty of lemon. You can eat the beans with a spoon or pop them from their skins. Allow 3 to 4 days for sprouting, although the hands-on work is only about 20 minutes. People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must not eat fava beans. Chef's tip: stop the sprouting when the shoots are about 1 cm long; longer sprouts taste grassy and bitter.
Egyptian
Miso soup
Miso soup (味噌汁) is drunk every day in homes all over Japan, at breakfast as well as dinner, beside a bowl of rice. The base is dashi; this vegan version uses kombu and dried shiitake instead of bonito, which gives it a deep, rounded flavour. Silken tofu and wakame seaweed are the classic fillings. It takes ten minutes; just remember not to boil the miso. Chef's tip: add the miso at the very end and never let it boil. Boiling kills the miso's fresh, fermented aroma; Japanese cooks say the soup should only 'smile', with the surface barely trembling.
JapanesePerfect for:Christmas