Chinese-style/Hong Kong Style Borscht Soup
Not to be confused with the Eastern European Borscht Soup, today's RECIPE is a cross between a beef stew and minestrone soup. This is Chinese Borscht Soup. It's a hearty soup that goes well with garlic bread.
Recipe by Mama Ding
Total Time | 2 hr 40 mins
Prep Time | 20 mins
Cook Time | 2 hr 20 mins
Servings : 2 - 3
Ingredients
450 g (1 lb) beef bones/pork bones
200 g (7 oz) beef chuck, cut into 1.5 cm (1/2 inch) cubes
3 tbsp tomato paste
juice of half a lemon or to taste
salt, sugar, white pepper powder to taste
500ml (2 cup) beef or vegetable stock
2 liters boiling water
Cube (1 cm cubes) the following ingredients~
3 stalk celery
1 onion, peeled
3 tomatoes
2 potatoes, peeled
1 carrot, peeled
1/4 cabbage
Crush the following ingredients~
2 garlic cloves, peeled
10 to 15 white peppercorns
3 bay leaves
Method
01 Bring a pot of water to the boil.
Blanch beef bones and beef chuck in boiling water for 3 minutes to remove blood. Trim any fat away from the meat. Rinse with tap water and set aside.
02 Add beef chuck and beef bones into another large pot of boiling water(2 liters), together with beef stock. Cook at a simmer on medium low heat uncovered for 90 minutes, or until the meat is tender. Stir occasionally.
While the meat is stewing, rinse and cube all the vegetables.
03 Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Saute garlic until aromatic. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add celery and cook for a while.
Then add the carrot, tomatoes, cabbage and potatoes. Cook until the vegetables soften.
04 Toss all vegetables into the stock pot (with the beef bones and beef chuck) after 90mins of stewing. Add tomato paste, white peppercorns and bay leaves. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 1 hour.
05 Top up with 1 or 2 cups of boiling water if required. Stir occasionally.
When all the ingredients become tender, season well with salt, sugar, white pepper and lemon juice to taste. Stir and taste the gravy. Adjust seasoning if needed.
06 Turn off the heat and remove the beef bones.
Dish out and serve hot in a bowl. Garnish with parsley if desired. Serve with garlic bread. Or you can also cook some macaroni separately and add in for a Borscht noodle soup.
Notes
You may use chicken stock instead of beef stock. Use any cut of beef suitable for stewing.
You can also use chicken meat. If using chicken, stewing time will be shortened. Cook until chicken meat is tender then turn off heat.
As the stew takes time to cook and develop flavors, it will taste better the next day. To shorten cooking time, you may use a pressure cooker. Pressure cook the beef bones and beef chuck for 30mins. Depressurize. Add the vegetables then pressure cook again for 15mins.