The Kapusniak капусняк is a soup from traditional Ukrainian cuisine.
▶It is primarily made with fresh white cabbage, often Zaporizhzhya cabbage (from the south), to which millet is also added.
▶The name “kapusniak” was given because the main component of the dish is white cabbage, which makes up more than two-thirds of the composition, with the addition of potatoes, carrots, and tomato pulp. Served with sour cream.
▶In its finished form, it has a thick consistency, and it should not be confused with Ukrainian borscht or the Polish version with meat, and any other “cabbage” from other countries and territories, as many use sauerkraut, which in this case should be washed and then squeezed.
▶Cabbage soup is popular in Russian, Polish, Slovak, and Ukrainian cuisines.
It is known as kapuśniak or kwaśnica in Polish, kapustnica in Slovak, and капусняк in Ukrainian.
🌟It is a typical soup for Ukrainian Christmas Eve, so I included it in the section “Christmas Around the World”.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Eastern European
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 1 white cabbage
- 2.5 oz millet
- 4 potatoes
- 1 carrot
- 2 onions
- 12.5 cups vegetable broth
- 3 tbsps tomato pulp
- to taste sour cream
- to taste salt
Steps
Boil the millet in the broth.
Add finely chopped cabbage, grated potatoes, carrot, onions, and tomato pulp.
Adjust the salt.
Cook for 40 minutes.
Serve with sour cream.
The typical sour cream of Eastern European cuisine is called “smetana”.
It can accompany sweet, savory, hot, or cold dishes, and its flavor is very delicate, slightly tart.
Do not confuse it with the French Crème fraîche épaisse, also called sour cream, which differs in production method, taste, consistency, and acidity, but due to its difficulty in finding in Italy, it can be used as a substitute.
