Fermented Cucumber/Pickle Soup-Zupa ogorkowa-
Fermented Cucumber soup is a traditional Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian soup. This soup helps with digestion. Also, fermented pickles are full of good bacteria called probiotics, which are important for gut health. Pickles marinated in vinegar don't have probiotic effects, so for maximum health benefits, choose pickles fermented in a brine of salt and water. This soup is made with my own fermented pickles. You can also buy fermented pickles at any European Delicatessen. The regular grocery stores would have them under ‘Kosher Pickles’ in the refrigerated section. In fact, a typical kosher dill pickle is a fermented dill pickle, made in the traditional manner of Jewish makers. These pickles are typically made with a generous addition of garlic and dill to salt brine.
My recipe for making fermented pickles you’ll find under Fermented Foods Category. However, the best time to make fermented cucumbers in Ontario is in the month of August & September.
Fermented Cucumber/Pickle Soup-Zupa ogorkowa-Recipe
By Zosia Culinary Adventures | Date: August 06,2023
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
YIELD: 5 litres
INGREDIENTS: you will need 6 litre stock pot
6 large fermented pickles with skin-on: shredded (pickles are salty therefore you don’t need to add any salt)
250ml fermented pickle juice
1 medium chopped peeled parsnip
2 medium organic carrots( no need to peel) chopped if you have green tops and use some bouquet garni bundle
1 chopped small leek
3 medium yukon gold potato, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
1 medium onion chopped
3.5 litres of low sodium vegetable bouillon or just filtered water( you might want to hold back the bullion stock until you add pickles and pickle juice to establish how much salt you mind need to add)
4 large garlic cloves- finely chopped
Bouquet garni bundle: 2-3 peppercorns, 2 fresh or dry bay leaves, 1 spring thyme, dill and parsley and carrot stem and 1 tablespoon fresh or dry lovage plant from your garden
1/2 cup of chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons of butter or avocado oil
1 cup of 14% sour cream
ground pepper for taste
To make dumplings for the soup : 1 large egg, 125ml organic all purpose flour or semolina flour, 2 tsps filtered water and 1 tsp fresh chopped dill
Garnish to serve the soup: chopped fresh dill and parsley
Note: A bouquet garni (pronounced boo-kay gahr-nee) keeps all my herbs together, making them easier to remove (so I don’t have to fish for the bay leaf before serving a soup, for example). Quick recipe: place the herb mixture in a double-layered square of cheesecloth. Gather the sides together to form a pouch and then secure the bundle with a piece of kitchen twine. Leave 1 piece of the string long enough so you can easily remove the bouquet garni from the cooking pot.
Instructions:
Chop parsnip, carrots, onion, leek, celery, dill and parsley.
Slice thinly peeled potatoes and chop finely garlic.
Sweat all vegetables in 2 tablespoons of melted butter for 5 minutes under cover. Sweating vegetables is a technique that uses a gentle heat to soften vegetables and gently draw out their flavors.
Add the low sodium bullion or filtered water and bouquet garni bundle into the pot and bring soup to boil.
Reduce temperature and continue to simmer soup for 20 minutes
In meantime, make the dumplings by mixing all ingredients with the whisk. Adjust flour or water to ensure that the batter is sour cream consistency. Set aside for 5 minutes.
Add shredded pickles and pickle juice to the soup. Bring soup to boil.
Now start dropping the egg dumplings into the soup. First, moist the spoon with the liquid which will prevent the batter from sticking to the spoon, then scoop a dumpling of 1/3 tablespoon size and drop it in the soup one by one until all prepared batter is used. Remember to moist the spoon each time before you take a new load. Mix the dumplings gently and let the soup come to full boil. Continue to boil for another 2 minutes.
Temper the sour cream in a small heatproof bowl by adding a few ladles of hot soup and whisking constantly.
Transfer your soup onto a low heat on the stovetop.
Transfer the tempered sour cream back to the soup, mix well with the whisk. but do not boil or the sour cream will break. Boiling will cause the soup to curdle.
If you were to skip the dumplings, you will require to add a blond roux to soup before you add the sour cream, otherwise the soup will curdle. Also, you can substitute dumplings with any small pasta of your liking.
Taste your soup. Season if needed. Garnish with chopped fresh dill and parsley.
TO YOUR HEALTH! SMACZNEGO!