Low-calorie daily cabbage soup with chicken giblets broth
8 servings
480 minutes
Daily shchi is the quintessence of Russian cuisine, infused with the spirit of tradition and home comfort. This dish only gets better the next day as all ingredients reveal their flavors and aromas. A low-calorie version made from chicken offal allows you to enjoy the classic taste without excess heaviness. Sauerkraut adds a tanginess, mushrooms provide depth, and oats give a tender texture. Such shchi is served hot with a slice of rye bread and a spoonful of sour cream, awakening memories of a village home. This recipe embodies coziness and unhurriedness as it takes time to prepare, soaking in the warmth of the hearth. Daily shchi is a gastronomic journey through time from ancient Russian traditions to modern cuisine while preserving the taste and soul of the past.
1
Don't pay attention to the given time: everything is variable, it will be much faster in a pressure cooker, but I still like it to be like from a Russian oven. I prefer to do it at night so it's ready for tomorrow's lunch.
2
In a three-liter pot, we place chicken parts and fill with water (NOT to the top, leaving space for cabbage). We boil a light chicken broth. To minimize calories, I use hearts or gizzards. Breasts can be used too – there will be nothing but flavor (considering that 240 ml of chicken broth is 12 kcal). So: we pour in water, bring to a boil, carefully skim off the foam...
- Chicken: 400 g
3
Then we salt and pepper to taste, add finely chopped onion (a small onion or equivalent) for flavor and transparency, and cook for about an hour on low heat, covered.
- Salt: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
- Onion: 5 piece
4
While this is cooking, we finely chop 3-4 large onions, place them in a pan with olive oil (medium heat), and fry until translucent.
- Onion: 5 piece
- Olive oil: 3 tablespoons
5
Add pickled cabbage to the onion (if very sour, first place it in a colander and rinse with cold running water), mix, cover tightly with a lid, and fry on low heat until light brown (about one to one and a half hours). Stir occasionally. When the liquid evaporates, add more from the kettle.
- Sauerkraut: 500 g
6
Meanwhile, we pour boiling water over the dried mushrooms, cover with a lid, and let it sit for 15 minutes. We take them out and cut them (however you like, I prefer larger pieces). We strain the resulting infusion and DO NOT throw it away — it will be useful; we will add it at the end when assembling the soup or to the cabbage while it's frying instead of another portion of water.
- Dried mushrooms: 40 g
7
When the broth is ready, remove the chicken substance, place it in a separate dish, cover it with a lid (later, when it cools down, we will put it in the fridge). It won't be needed until morning
8
We are preparing shchi: we put the cabbage (it shouldn't be pale!) fried to an intense light brown color with onions into the broth, add the infusion from the mushrooms and, excuse me...
9
Oatmeal is for thickness and binding (in healthy people, this is achieved with fluffy potatoes). The oatmeal will then completely dissolve, and you won't notice it at all.
- Hercules: 2 tablespoons
10
We add the chopped mushrooms (they can be added earlier, before the cabbage, and boiled with the broth)
- Dried mushrooms: 40 g
11
We add coarsely chopped potatoes (as much as one can, considering XE; it can also be omitted). If there is too much broth during assembly, ladle the excess into a bowl: it will be useful in the morning when you take out the soup and see that some has evaporated.
- Potato: 2 pieces
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Bring to a boil...
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and tightly cover with a lid, place in an oven preheated to 180-200°. Immediately reduce the temperature to 105-110° (the broth hardly boils, just small bubbles appear) and leave it until morning (or for 4-5 hours). In general, I immediately go to sleep
14
“Morning paints with a gentle color…” We woke up We take out the pot (do you see how the top of the soup has become rosy? This is exactly the taste we aimed for – it won't happen in a pressure cooker, it will just fall apart! And by the way, the oatmeal has completely broken down!), we add the portioned chicken substance, if it has evaporated – we add the previously collected 'extra' broth, bring to a boil over low heat (so that the meat heats evenly) and send it back to the oven, which we IMMEDIATELY turn off – let it cool in the oven.
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That's it – those who had a village Ukrainian grandmother with homemade pork (God, turn this pig into a crucian!) understand me. Completely rustic, if anyone remembers the childhood taste. But in terms of calories and sugars – fully in modern minimalist style.