No. 44 — Sour Shchi
English translation of the original Russian recipe No. 44 in Molokhovets’ 1901 cookbook, with historical quantities and source references.
Prepare an unsalted white broth from beef breast alone or with ham, and strain. Squeeze 1½ Russian pounds of shredded sauerkraut; the author finds chopped cabbage even tastier. If very sour, rinse it in two changes of cold water or one of warm water, reserving the juice.
Scald the cabbage with boiling water and drain. Melt ½ spoonful of butter, add a finely shredded onion and the chopped cabbage, and fry while stirring. Blend one spoonful of toasted flour with one glass of liquid made by boiling 2–3 dried mushrooms, stirring until smooth. Add to the cabbage and pour over the strained stock; cook gently for one hour.
If the shchi is insufficiently sour, add some reserved cabbage juice and 1½ glasses of sour cream, bring to the boil and serve with boiled beef and sliced ham. Sour cream may instead be served separately, along with buckwheat porridge, porridge croutons or a layered pancake loaf.
To provide
3 Russian pounds of beef, or 2 pounds of beef and 1 pound of ham 2–3 dried mushrooms; 1 spoonful of flour; 1 onion 5–10 allspice berries; 1–2 bay leaves | 3 glasses of sauerkraut; the mushroom quantity is repeated in the printed box 1 spoonful of butter; ½–1 glass of sour cream |