Russian Cuisine Basics

Russian Cuisine Basics

Beef stock is cooked the same way for soups like borsch or schii:

Beef Stock for Russian soups

1 lb – 7-blade steak

Onion (sweet) –  ½ (medium size)

Carrot – 1

Salt to taste (~3 tsp)

Bay leaves ~ 4

Peppercorns (black) ~ 2 tsp

Dill weed – 2 tsp

1 whole root of parsley (optional, but it adds a very distinctive aroma to soup)

Boil meat in ~ 8-10 cups of water with 1 whole carrot , ½ onion, bay leaves, peppercorns, and dill weed for an hour after it starts boiling. Discard onion, peppercorn, bay leaves, dill weed, parsley root, and carrot*, take the meat out.

Shredding Cabbage

To shred cabbage, cut of a bit of cabbage head on the side, keep knife flat close to the side of cabbage head and start slicing cabbage along the length trying to make slices very fine. After slicing/shredding, you can chop cabbage.

To cut vegetables for soups, make 1/4″ cubes – It’s easily achieved by first slicing potato lengthwise, and then turn it and repeat. As a result, cut pieces will be neat cubes.


*You can use cheesecloth for spices or a reusable bag for spices. You can buy these reusable bags in Bed, Bath, and Beyond (see pic)