Mushroom Solyanka
In Eastern European home cooking, mushroom solyanka isn’t a soup at all but a thick braised preserve of cabbage and mushrooms, sealed into jars for winter. When it’s cold out you just warm a jar and you’ve got a full meatless dish, or a ready filling for hand pies and dumplings.
The mushrooms are always boiled first, and that step matters: boiling draws off any bitterness and makes the preserve safer for long storage. Wild mushrooms give the best flavor — honey mushrooms, slippery jacks, birch boletes — but ordinary button or cremini mushrooms stand in fine when foraged ones aren’t around, just with a milder result.
The one trick that counts
Don’t rush the cabbage. Braise it slowly for at least an hour, until it goes soft and turns a golden tint; that long braise is what gives solyanka its signature thickness, and no quick sauté will fake it. Add the tomato sauce only at the end, because its acidity will keep the cabbage from softening if it goes in early. Pack it hot into sterilized jars, seal right away, and store somewhere cool and dark.
Part of Ukrainian cuisine — 302 more recipes in the section.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Sauté the onion in sunflower oil and boil the mushrooms.
Add shredded carrots and cabbage to the oil and onion, and braise for 1 to 1.5 hours.
Add the boiled mushrooms, spices, and tomato sauce, and braise another 15 minutes.
Cool, pack into jars, and seal.
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