Jewish-Style Cabbage Soup

Soup-er Sunday!

Ingredients taste larger than they appear

I was scrolling through my favorite time waster, Facebook, when I saw someone’s post about making cabbage soup. Considering the snowy weekend we had here in NJ, it sounded like a great idea. Every couple decades or so, give or take, I crave cabbage soup, and that post intrigued me enough to push away from the computer for a while. Not really sure why (soup, not computer) because my cabbage soup recipe is pretty quick and easy to make and really should be a staple in my winter soup rotation. Shred some cabbage, dice an onion, squeeze a lemon, open a can of tomatoes. The hardest part was finding where I stashed the brown sugar.

Speaking of sugar, I didn’t add much, just enough to offset the apple cider vinegar. You can add another tablespoon if you like to actually taste the sweet along with the sour.

What makes this version Jewish-Style? I guess because my mother used to make cabbage soup. And she was Jewish. She would sometimes add flanken (short ribs), but always made it with potatoes. I never add flanken because I prefer my soup vegan-style to go with anything, plus it shortens cooking time exponentially. I do usually add potatoes, except tonight I wanted to serve mash potatoes with the chicken afterwards. The soup is totally yummy either way. But do try the potato version sometime. Served with crusty bread, it makes an excellent lunch that will hold you straight through until dinner.

My mom also added something else:  sour salt.

Sour salt???? What the heck is sour salt???? I returned to the computer (yes, “a while” lasted 2 WHOLE minutes) to find out what would make salt sour. Despite its name, there is no salt in sour salt. According to that well-respected culinary site The Chicago Tribune, sour salt is the culinary name for citric acid. It lends that familiar sour taste in many sweet and sour dishes. It’s called “salt” most likely only probably because it is a crystalline powder resembling salt. A small jar costs around $3 at my local Try-n-Save, but because snow, you can do as I did and reach into the pantry for the more familiar apple cider vinegar.

Do use fresh lemon juice. It also adds a little acidity, but more importantly it finishes the soup with a wonderful “brightness” and taste.

Jewish-Style Sweet-and-Sour Cabbage Soup
Yield: 4-6 servings

1 Tbl. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 small green cabbage
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes (fire-roasted preferred), undrained
1 large potato, peeled and cut into chunks (optional)
6 cups water (or 3 cups water and 3 cups vegetarian “beef” or “chicken” broth)
2 Tbl. apple cider vinegar (or 1 tsp. sour salt)
1 packed Tbl. brown sugar (add another tablespoon if you like to taste the sweet)
2 tsp. Kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 Tbl. freshly squeezed lemon juice (about half a large lemon)
 

Slice the cabbage in half through the core. Cut away as much of the core as possible and discard, then shred cabbage into 1/4" or finer strips. If desired, run a knife through the longer shreds a few times so they fit better on a spoon.

In a 5-quart or larger pot with high sides (to avoid splatter), heat oil over medium-high heat. Add cabbage and onions. Sauté occasionally until cabbage turns bright green and reduces slightly, the onions soften, and both start to char along their edges. This should take about 5 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes along with their juices, water (and broth if using), potato chunks (also if using), cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Cover, increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer; continue to simmer for 20 minutes. If you like the tomatoes broken down more, simmer an additional 15 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Taste and adjust with more vinegar, sugar, salt and/or pepper if needed. 

Ladle into soup bowls and serve hot.