Tag: soup

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Fishy vegetable soup with pelmeni and miso

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What you need:

– 5 small dried fishes (Peipsi tint – see photo below), or any dried fish, cut to pieces or at least a tablespoon of original japanese fish flakes

– 1 tablespoon of oil

– 2 medium onions

– 1 carrot

– a little bit of geen onion for taste and garnish

– handful of spinach or any other leafy green of your choice

– handful of pelmeni (or any savory dumpling of your choice)

– 3 tablespoons of soy sauce

– 1 teaspoon of miso paste

– salt for taste

– 1 -1,5 litres of water

How to make:

It is basically a Japanese miso soup – but not quite, because getting original ingredients for that is very expensive in Estonia. For this soup, it is best to prepare all ingredients in advance and then start cooking. Chop the fishes – it has to be dry and salty and you really need to adjust the amount according to the saltiness of the fish – as small as you can. Peel and cut the carrots and onions. In a pot, heat the oil and then add onions. Wait until they start to brown before you stir. Then add the cut fish pieces and let it sit there for a minute or two. Add carrots and fry for a minute. Then add water and soy sauce. As soon as water starts cooking, add the pelmeni – they will be ready when they start floating on top. Take the pot from the fire, put in the greens and stir in the miso paste and salt if necessary and enjoy right away.

There is no limit to what ingredients you can use there: mushrooms, cabbage, almost any kind of vegetable, tofu, even leftover meat. As long as you have the base and your greens, everything else is basically cleaning out your fridge.

How much does it cost:

Miso the amount of miso will be around 50 cents, onions perhaps 10 cents in today’s prices, carrot also along those lines, greens maybe 50 cents, tops, as well as the pelmeni. This amount of fish will be also around 10 cents. A bit of oil and everything and you will come out with under 2 euros for that soup.

Peipsi tint

So, you want to know what a Peipsi tint is? Behold, this is it: small fishes (Osmerus eperlanus morfa spirinchus) from lake Peipsi which are mostly eaten as super salty dried snacks which go well with cold beer. You might think that they are little, but in this soup you will definitely feel their fishy taste.

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Potato soup with sage

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What you need:

– 500 g potatoes

– 10 g butter

– teaspoon of olive oil

– 5 large cloves of garlic

– a large onion or a leek

– 7 large leaves of fresh sage

– a small bit of vegetable stock cube, chili flakes and parsley to taste (optional)

– 1,5 – 2 l of water

How to make:

Peel and cube the potatoes. Finely chop your garlic and onion, heat oil in a large pot and throw them in along with chili flakes (and dried parsley, if using). Wait for a minute or two until the onion turns glassy, throw in the butter and chopped sage leaves. Add the potatoes into the mix, stir for around 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for half an hour. Salt and pepper to taste. If you like, you can puree the soup and serve with either additional butter or a bit of sour cream.

Like it heavier? Leave these french roots of the soup behind and use smoked fatty ham cubes instead of olive oil – just fry them long enough to get them as crispy as you like them and get the fat to come out and then proceed as usual.

What does it cost:

For a bit garlic, butter and oil and electricity and all you won’t get more than 1 euro.

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Easy fish soup for cold days

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What you need:

– ca 400 g of de-boned frozen pangasius fillets

– 500 g fresh tomatoes (cooking time will be longer) or 400 g pureed tomatoes

– 1 glass of white wine

– 1 teaspoon of (olive) oil

– at least 5 large cloves of garlic (there is no such thing as too much garlic here)

– 1 large onion

– half a teaspoon dried oregano

– half a teaspoon dried parsley

– half a teaspoon dried basil

– as much chili as you like

– 1 liter of vegetable or fish or chicken stock

– 1 tablespoon of tomato paste

– 1-2 bay leaves

– salt and pepper to taste

How to make:

Roughly chop your onion and garlic, heat the oil and put the chopped vegetables there with dried herbs. (If you use fresh herbs, wait for the soup to be mostly cooked until you add them.) When the onion has turned glassy, add tablespoon of tomato paste and stir for a second, then throw in the frozen pangasius and add white wine. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add tomato puree, throw in your preferred bouillon cube and add around a liter of hot water. Let the soup simmer for 30-40 minutes, until the fish has thoroughly cooked through, then shred the larger pieces of fish a bit, salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

How much does it cost:

Fish is usually expensive in Estonian supermarkets (like almost everything else), but you can find pangasius bargains for around 6 euros/kg. This makes the cost for the fish around 2,5 euros. Pureed tomatoes come for around 1.3 -1,6 euros, wine will be around 1 euro. Stock, oil and herbs if you need to buy them, still won’t be much more than a euro. This will make the total cost for the soup around 5-5,5 euros and as always, it is enough for 2 very hungry eaters or for 4 moderately hungry ones.

This soup borrows heavily from Italian kitchen and the Italians definitely know what they are doing…. And they have so many more affordable types of fish options. If you can get your hands on other types of seafood for this soup, by all means, do! Shrimps, mussels, any type of your favorite fish would be great for this one – the more stuff, the merrier. If you are lucky enough to get fresh ingredients, then don’t hold back! This can work as soup or as a stew, depending how you customize it. In case you use different types of fresh seafood, you could easily get away with throwing some potatoes and carrots into the mix, but with only one sad frozen pangasius, potatoes would water down the taste of the broth. Switch out the herbs with your favourite ones, play around with different types of seafood and have fun!

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Greek-style vegetable soup

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What you need:

– 50g smoked fatty ham

– little bit of olive oil

– 5 cloves of garlic

– 1 large onion

– 3 medium potatoes

– 1 paprika

– 100g long beans

– 1 glass wine

– 1 can tomatoes

– teaspoon of tomato paste

– teaspoon of dried oregano

– teaspoon of dried parsley

– teaspoon of thyme

– 1 liter fresh water (or more)

How to make:

Cut the ham in small pieces and fry over slow fire in a large pot until the fat has come out and the ham is crispy. Meanwhile cut all vegetables into small pieces. Add a little olive oil, dried herbs, garlic and onion and let it cook for a minute or two. Add beans and potatoes, cook a couple of minutes. Add tomato paste, mix well and add the glass of honest cheap wine. Cook a couple of minutes, add tomatoes and water and let the soup simmer for around half an hour. Around 5-10 minutes before the soup is ready, add cut paprika – depending how crispy do you like it. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

You can do no wrong here: play around with the amount of ingredients, you can add carrots or celery. Honest tip: this soup tastes so much better the next day! This recipe should make enough soup for 4 semi-hungry people or for 2 really hungry ones.

How much does it cost:

Ham and wine around 1 euro each, can of tomatoes is 70 cents, tomato paste around 10 cents, a bit of olive oil not more than 20 cents. Everything else comes from a poor Estonian’s garden. Total cost: 3 euros.