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Botvinya
Chilled beet leaf and salmon soup
Botvinya (ботвинья): chilled kvass soup with beet and sorrel greens, cucumber and poached salmon
Summer dachas around St Petersburg once waited all year for the young beet tops and sorrel that go into this sharp, ice-cold soup, a grand dish of the old aristocratic table that is also cheap peasant food. Blanched greens are puréed, loosened with bread kvass and studded with cucumber and spring onion; a piece of gently poached salmon is set alongside, with horseradish and lemon. Kvass is lightly fermented and can carry a trace of alcohol: choose one labelled alcohol-free, or use the substitute of sparkling water, a little lemon and rye-bread soaking liquid given in the ingredients. The usual slip is serving it merely cool: it should be properly cold, even with an ice cube in each bowl. Chef's tip: poach the fish the day before so it is thoroughly chilled, and keep the whole soup in the fridge until the minute it goes to the table.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the soup
- 7 oz young beet tops (leaves and stems)washed
- 5 ½ oz sorrelwashed, tough stems removed
- 2 cucumbersdiced
- 4 spring onionsfinely sliced
- ½ oz fresh dillchopped
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
For the fish
- 14 oz salmon fillet (or sturgeon if you can get it)skin on
- 2 bay leaf
- 1 tsp salt
To serve
- 1 lemon (optional)cut into wedges
- 4 ice cubes (optional)
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Bring a small pan of water to a boil with the 2 bay leaf leaves, 6 black peppercorns and 1 tsp salt. Turn it to the lowest simmer, lower in the 14 oz salmon fillet (or sturgeon if you can get it) and poach for 10–12 minutes, until the flesh is opaque all the way through and flakes easily.
15 minStep 2: Lift out the fish, cool it for 15 minutes, then wrap it and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour (or overnight). Do not leave it standing at room temperature longer than that.
15 minStep 3: Blanch the 7 oz young beet tops (leaves and stems) and 5 ½ oz sorrel in boiling water for 2 minutes, until the beet stems are tender and the sorrel turns olive-green.
3 minStep 4: Drain, plunge the greens into iced water, squeeze dry and chop very finely or blitz to a rough purée.
5 minStep 5: Stir the purée into the chilled 4 ¼ cups bread kvass, alcohol-free (or 900 ml sparkling water + 3 tbsp lemon juice + 100 ml rye-bread soaking water) with the 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt, then add the 2 cucumbers, 4 spring onions, ½ oz fresh dill and 1 tbsp grated horseradish (from a jar). Taste: it should be sour, fresh and only faintly sweet.
5 minStep 6: Cover and chill the soup in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, until very cold.
30 minStep 7: Flake the cold salmon into large pieces, removing the skin. Ladle the soup into cold bowls, add an 4 ice cubes cube to each if you like, and serve the fish on the side or in the bowl with 1 lemon wedges. Eat the same day and keep leftovers in the fridge.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 21 g
- Carbs
- 14 g
- Fat
- 9 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does botvinya take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 35 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of cucumbers?
- Courgette, same weight (in salads, use young ones).
- What can I use instead of spring onions?
- Chives, or a little finely sliced onion.
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