Rassolnik soup with rice and cucumbers - 8 cooking recipes

The only difference between the recipes for pickle with rice and with barley is the cereal used. Everything else: the set of products, the cooking technology are the same. That is, you can take any recipe you like with one grain and during the cooking process replace it with another without changing anything else. The soup will turn out just as tasty. However, there is also a problem.

The fact is that different types of rice require different cooking times. And pearl barley is one of those cereals that, in principle, takes a long time to prepare (unless you are lucky enough to buy some special one, already processed). The traditional placement of products in a pickle can thus vary.

This is considered a classic. First, the broth is cooked - with meat, chicken, mushrooms, whatever you want. You can cook soup simply with water. The first thing to put into the pan is the diced potatoes. When the water boils, washed rice is sent to it. If the pickled cucumbers have a hard skin, they are placed before the onions and carrots are fried (you don’t have to take them at all). If the cucumbers are tender and soft, it is better to put them at the very end.

Rassolnik is one of the few types of first courses that need to be salted with great care. And all because we put a well-salted product in them. So it is recommended to try the dish several times, and then add more salt to it, if suddenly there is not enough salt from the cucumbers. And if you oversalt, rice can save you - it has the ability to absorb excess salt.

Another explanation for why it’s best to add cucumbers to pickle soup is this: they don’t have a very good effect on undercooked potatoes.

By the way, rassolnik is made not only from salted, but also from pickled and even fresh cucumbers - it’s all a matter of the preferences and whims of the cook)