Rassolnik is a traditional Russian soup made with pickles and pickle juice, often prepared with pig or cow kidneys or chicken livers. Other ingredients include potatoes, carrots, onions, barley, chicken breast chunks, and herbs. The dish evolved from a local favorite, the pickled cucumber, and is often garnished with sour cream and dill.
Pickles and pickle juice form the cornerstone of a traditional Russian soup called rassolnik, a recipe that has hangover-healing properties. Though vegetarian styles are made, the classic way to prepare this six-century-old dish is with the kidneys of pigs or cows or just some chicken livers. Along the way, other more universally accepted soup ingredients are often added, such as potatoes, carrots, onions, barley, chicken breast chunks, and a medley of herbs.
Once known as kalya, rossolnik evolved as a Russian way of presenting a local favorite: the pickled cucumber. To prepare the dish, most chefs start by making a stock, usually boiling the bones of whatever meat will be used with a little onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper, then straining the liquid. Others just buy chicken, beef or vegetable broth.
Cooking kidneys for rassolnik requires precision and care, otherwise organ toxicity may be transferred to the dish. This means boiling whole, trimmed-fat kidneys in water for about 10 minutes or more, then discarding the water. The kidneys are then simmered for another hour in a fresh pot of water, and then that water can be added to the stock to mix the flavors, while the kidneys are cut into small pieces.
While the kidneys are cooking, many chefs begin preparing the remaining ingredients for the rassolnik. Chopped vegetables such as carrots, plus onions, celery and potatoes are “sweated” in a pan, then added to the broth. Barley is also added frequently at this point.
Pickles come almost last in rassolnik preparation. They are peeled, diced and sweated in the same pan as the other vegetables. Just when the potatoes are ready to eat, pickles are added to the soup, along with herbs like cilantro, cilantro, thyme, and parsley. Left in the broth for too long, these ingredients become devoid of any flavor.
As with another popular Russian soup, cabbage-centered shchi, rassolnik is often garnished with sour cream and a little chopped dill, which complement the flavor of the sour pickle. Some make the soup more acidic by soaking the pickle peels in boiled water for about 10 minutes and then adding this liquid to the broth. Another twist on the original recipe involves using chunks of chicken or beef instead of the usual kidneys or gizzards, or leaving out all the meat and making the pickles the one and only star.
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