Luosong tang (Shanghai borscht)
Photo: liz west from Boxborough, MA · CC BY 2.0

History

Russian emigres arrived in Shanghai after the 1917 revolution and opened more than 40 restaurants along Avenue Joffre, today's Huaihai Middle Road, an area known at the time as Little Russia. Their cheap borscht and buttered bread caught on quickly with local diners, but Shanghai's climate suited tomatoes better than beetroot, so cooks swapped in tomato paste, fried first to cut its sourness, and added sugar to balance the result. Most Shanghai recipes now build the soup from beef and its broth, potatoes and leafy vegetables, sometimes with Hongchang sausage or a dash of Worcestershire style sauce, and serve it alongside rice or a fried pork chop.

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Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 400g beef shin or brisket, cut into chunks
  • 1.5 litres water or beef stock
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 2 potatoes, diced
  • 1/4 white cabbage, shredded
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar, or to taste
  • Salt and white pepper, to taste

Method

  1. Simmer the beef in the water or stock for 1 hour, skimming occasionally, until tender. Reserve the meat and broth.
  2. Fry the tomato paste in the oil over low heat for 2 minutes to soften its sourness, then add the onion and carrot and cook until softened.
  3. Add the reserved broth and beef, along with the potatoes, and simmer for 15 minutes.
  4. Stir in the cabbage and sugar and simmer a further 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
  5. Season with salt and white pepper, adjusting the sugar to taste.
  6. Serve hot, with rice or a fried pork chop alongside.

Tip from the editors. Fry the tomato paste before adding liquid; that single step is what takes the edge off its raw sourness.

Where to eat luosong tang (shanghai borscht)

Luosong tang (Shanghai borscht) in Shanghai

Deda Western Restaurant ★ 3.9

¥¥ ShanghaineseJingan

Deda Western Restaurant on West Nanjing Road in Shanghai opened in 1897 in Hongkou and here in 2007, serving the Haipai pork chop, borscht and potato salad.

OrderFried pork chop with Worcestershire-style sauce, borscht, and potato salad, Deda's old three.

TipMost diners are Shanghainese regulars there for nostalgia; the room by the Nanjing Road window doubles as a coffee house with a cake shop.

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