Summer Sorrel Shchi

A

s the Russian dacha season opens in May, dacha dwellers look forward to cooking meals based mainly on ingredients harvested from their garden plots. Given Russia’s climate, nothing seems to grow more easily here than sorrel. To the uninitiated, this plant looks like a common weed, but it has a very agreeable, tart, lemony flavor. Sorrel is a delicacy in disguise. 

You can easily grow sorrel yourself. It is a perennial herb that spreads with abandon and has been used for cooking and medicinal uses throughout Europe since the time of the Greeks. The arrow-shaped leaves of the plant are a great addition to fresh salads, but on a hot day in late summer there is nothing like a sorrel-based shchi. Not only is it a nice alternative to classic Russian cabbage shchi (see Russian Life, July 1995), but it is simple and very inexpensive to make. 

Once you master this simple recipe, you can add it to your repertoire of light Russian summer soups.

ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, chopped 

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped 

1 quart beef, chicken, or vegetable stock

1 pound fresh sorrel 

1 bay leaf

One bunch fresh parsley 

One bunch fresh dill

2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

Salt, freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 hard-boiled eggs per serving, peeled and cut in half lengthwise

Sour cream

Serves 6.

DIRECTIONS

In a stockpot, sauté the onion and carrot in the butter until they soften and begin to turn brown, 5 to 7 minutes.  Stir in the stock.

Wash the sorrel thoroughly to remove any grit. Make a chiffonade by slicing the sorrel into thin strips. Stir it into the broth, then add the bay leaf, parsley, dill, and potatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer the soup, uncovered, for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, garnish each bowl with half a hard-boiled egg and a dollop of sour cream.