Cantonese (Hong Kong) Style Borscht 羅宋湯
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I grew up in Chongqing, China where the temperature reaches over 100 F in the summer time and stays comfortably above 50s during winter time.
So one of my biggest challenges after moving to New York was to cope with the cold winter here.
And I have been doing pretty well on that. After all I have survived a number of freezing winters in NYC. And I honestly didn’t believe it could get any worse than the past few winters until last week when the deadly polar vortex hit my part of the States!!
Last week was the coldest few days I had ever experienced in my life! I mean it was so cold that my 10 minute walk from the subway station to work almost turned into a life-threatening venture.
But it wasn’t all that negative. For one, the cold weather smashed the 118 year record in Central Park New York.
And when the temperate drops outside, my kitchen tends to heat up. While the polar vortex was visiting, I was cooking up some of my favorite winter soups including borscht.
And this borscht is not the typical beets-laden borscht you are used to. This Cantonese style borscht, aka Lor Song Tong or 羅宋湯, is a Chinese take on the classic borscht. It’s popular in China and it is regarded as a stable in Cantonese speaking Chinese regions such as Hong Kong and Canton.
In contrast to the Ukrainian borscht or other European style borscht, this Cantonese style borscht features beef or oxtail and does not have any beets nor it is served with sour cream. The only thing this soup resembles the original borscht is how delicious it is. 🙂
When I crave for a simple but comforting Chinese soup, this borscht is always on the top of my list. Since most of the soup are just vegetables you’ll not feel guilty to drink that extra bowl. And most importantly, this tomato-based soup is so flavorful that it will not only satisfy your stomach but also warm up your heart in this cold winter.
So if you still have no idea what this soup is all about, let’s just call it hearty beef with tomato and mixed vegetable soup. If that sounds good to you then be sure to check out the recipe below.
P.S. before I forget, I just would like to mention that the Chinese New Year 2014 will be on January 31st. It will be the year of horse!
Every year, I post special Chinese New Year recipes right around this time but for this year I am doing something EXTRA SPECIAL. Please check back in the new few days for the details!!
Step by Step Illustration
Cantonese (Hong Kong) Style Borscht 羅宋湯
Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 105
Total Time: 120
Make this Cantonese (Hong Kong) style Borscht following this step-by-step recipe at www.yireservation.com.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 lb beef (or oxtail)
- 3 quart beef broth or vegetable broth
- 4 fresh tomato
- 2-3 potatoes
- 3 stalk celery
- 1 carrot
- ½ cabbage
- 1 onion
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 all spice (optional
Directions:
- Blanch the beef in boiling water to get rid of the blood. Remove from the boiling once the beef shrinks and turns color
- Cut the beef into 1x1 cubes. No need to cut if you use oxtails. Combine the beef cubes, bay leaves, and all spice with 3 quarts of beef broth. Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes
- Chop all the vegetables into smaller pieces. Add all the vegetables to the soup and bring to boil
- Reduce the heat to simmer and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. Remove as much of the floating foam as possible and stir the vegetables occasional. The vegetables should be tender but not mushy. Add salt and pepper to taste
