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This simple vegetable soup was inspired by the traditional Romanian sour soup. You can expect a very special sour taste, lots of healthy vegetables and an interesting eggy texture.
Ingredients needed
- Sweet Potatoes
- Green Beans – I used frozen but fresh works great as well
- Green Peas – I used frozen but you can also use fresh
- Celery Stick
- Fennel
- Garlic Cloves
- Shallots
- Risotto Rice
- Eggs
- Himalayan Salt
- Parsley or Lovage
- Lemon Juice – use the traditional “bors” if you have it
- Water
For this soup I like using an assortment of vegetables that blend together to create a traditional sweet and sour taste. In terms of vegetables, I like to include things like green beans, green peas, celery, fennel, garlic, shallots, even a sweet potato and risotto rice.
Sweet potatoes works well for adding a bit of texture to the soup, and the same is true for risotto rice. At the end of the cooking process, I’ve used 2 eggs to add a bit more flavor and an eggy texture.
How do we obtain that special sour taste?
In the traditional Romanian recipe, this soup of prepared using a local ingredient called “bors”. “Bors” is a slightly yellowish sour liquid traditionally prepared from wheat or barley bran fermented in water. In soup it is used to obtain that special sour taste that’s characteristic to Eastern Europe soups.
In some parts of Romania, instead of “bors” people use another local ingredient, namely the water used to make sour cabbage (another delicacy of the Romanian cuisine). As a result, the taste of the soup will change to something more “local”.
For our recipe though, we’ll keep it more simple by using ingredients that anyone has access to, namely freshly squeezed lemon juice. The lemon taste is pretty close to the traditional Romanian “boss” without the extra effort. If you are in Romania through, I suggest you to buy the local “bors” and use that instead (see recipe notes).
Steps to make Simple Vegetable Sour Soup
- Start by boiling the rice in a simple pot, with water, and let it cool down while working on the main soup.
- For the soup, start by adding all the vegetables in a large pot and cover with water.
- Bring to a boil and cook until the vegetables are soft.
- Once the veggies are soft, lower the cooking temperature and add-in cooked rice. Continue to cook at a lower temperature.
- In the meantime, add eggs to a bowl and beat using a fork.
- Take one ladle of fresh hot soup and pour it over beaten eggs. Mix for 30 seconds to homogenize with beaten eggs.
- Pour the contents of the bowl over the main soup. Use a fork to mix very fast until the eggs have dissolved into the soup.
- Finish by adding lemon juice, salt and herbs. Let it simmer for a few minutes, until the soup develops that special sour taste.
- Your soup is now ready! Serve this sour soup as is or with your favorite extras (see below some ideas).
How to serve Simple Vegetable Sour Soup
In the Romanian cuisine, this type of soup is served as the first course in a two-course meal, usually consumed at lunch time.
You can serve this simple vegetable sour soup by itself or pair it with your different extras:
- Full Fat Sour Cream – this is how we serve this soup in Romania
- Hot Pepper – either green or red peppers that are very hot
- Olives – although olives do not grow in Romania, I love them with sour soup because of their healthy fats content and salty taste
- White Cheese – sheep’s cheese, cow cheese or feta cheese
- Walnuts – they add texture and lots of nutrients to any soup
- Freshly Baked Bread – Romanians love their bread and, for best results, only consume bread that was naturally fermented (sourdough bread works best here)
If you make this soup, let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and tag it @refreshmyhealth on Social Media!
Enjoy and share this simple vegetable sour soup with someone you love!
What’s your favorite soup recipe? Would you try this vegetable sour soup? Let me know in the comments.
Simple Vegetable Sour Soup
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato (peeled, cubed)
- 200 g frozen green beans
- 200 g frozen green peas
- 1 stick celery (chopped)
- 1 slice fennel (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 3-4 shallots (no skin, sliced)
- 2 tbsp risotto rice (pre-cooked)
- 2 eggs (free range)
- 1 tsp Himalayan salt
- parsley and lovage (to taste)
- 1 small lemon (juice only, or 1 small cup of “bors”)
Instructions
- Prior to making this soup, you first have to boil the rice. Once the rice is almost cooked, remove the excess water and let it sit on the counter. We’ll be adding it to our soup towards the end of the cooking process.
- In a large pot add together sweet potatoes, green beans, green peas, celery, fennel, garlic cloves and shallots.
- Add enough water to cover the ingredients and a bit more. Bring to a boil and keep it there until the sweet potatoes are soft (test them with a fork).
- Lower the cooking temperature and add in pre-cooked rice. Let the soup simmer on the stovetop.
- In the meantime, break eggs into a bowl and beat using a fork or a whisk.
- Take one ladle of fresh hot soup and add it over beaten eggs. Mix for about 30 seconds to homogenize with beaten eggs.
- Pour the contents of the bowl (beaten eggs incorporated into a bit of soup) over the main soup pot. Use a fork and mix very fast until the eggs have dissolved into the soup, forming a specific eggy texture.
- Finish by adding lemon juice, salt and herbs. Let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes or until the sour taste of the lemon has combined into the entire soup.
- Remove from heat and set aside to rest for a few minutes. Let the flavors develop while you prepare the table.
- Congratulations! Your vegetable sour soup is now ready to be served.
Notes
Looking for more warming soups?
I have a feeling you’ll like these soups:
This sour soup with sweet potatoes is definitely a recipe for me. I love sour soup and I absolutely love sweet potatoes so this combo is PERFECT for me! WOW!
I also love the addition of green beans and green peas …. Delish!