Sorrel soup usually includes further ingredients such asegg yolks or wholeeggs (hard-boiled or scrambled),potatoes, carrots, parsley root, and rice.[1][3][12] A variety of Ukrainian green borscht also includes beetroot.[11] In Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian cuisines, sorrel soup may be prepared using any kind ofbroth instead of water.[1][3] It is usually garnished withsmetana, an Eastern European variety ofsour cream.[1][3] It may be served either hot or chilled.
Sorrel soup is characterized by its sour taste due tooxalic acid (called "sorrel acid" inSlavic languages) present in sorrel.[13] The "sorrel-sour" taste may disappear when sour cream is added, as the oxalic acid reacts withcalcium andcasein.[14] Some may refer to sorrel flavor as "tannic," as with spinach or walnuts.
Green borscht with egg and sour cream
Green borscht made with spinach instead of sorrel and with potatoes
Ukrainian green borscht including both sorrel and beetroot
^abcdefgBurlakoff, Nikolai (2013).The World of Russian Borsch: Explorations of Memory, People, History, Cookbooks & Recipes. North Charleston, SC: Createspace Independent Pub.ISBN978-1484027400.
^abcЕкатерина Авдеева. Ручная книга русской опытной хозяйки. СПб, 1842 [Yekaterina Avdeeva.A Handbook of the Russian experienced housewife. St. Petersburg, 1842]
^abcdefgЕлена Молоховец.Подарок молодым хозяйкам. 1-е издание, 1861, с. 65 [Elena Molokhovets.A Gift to Young Housewives. First Russian edition, 1861, p. 65]
^abOchorowicz-Monatowa, Maria (1913).Uniwersalna książka kucharska z ilustracyami i kolorowemi tablicami odznaczona na wystawie hygienicznej w Warszawie w 1910 r. : przeszło 2200 skromnych i wytwornych przepisów gospodarskich i kuchennych z uwzględnieniem niezbędnych warunków odpowiedniej dyety codziennej hygieny oraz kuchni jarskiej (in Polish). Warszawa / Lwów: E. Wende i S-ka.
^abcArtyukh, Lidiya (1977).Ukrayinska narodna kulinariya(Українська народна кулинарія) [Ukrainian folk cuisine] (in Ukrainian). Kyiv: Naukova dumka. p. 55.
^Wolf, Bonny (20 May 2009)."Sorrel Makes Sour Sweet".Kitchen Window. NPR.Archived from the original on 25 December 2024. Retrieved27 March 2025.
^Tiazhka, Lilia (22 July 2021)."Best Traditional Green Borshch recipe (Ukrainian Sorrel Soup)".Etnocook.Archived from the original on 20 January 2025. Retrieved27 March 2025.after adding sour cream the sorrel acid disappears after the reaction between oxalic acid, calcium from the sour cream, and casein