Sweet-and-Sour Vegetable Soup

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Fried onion

1. 1
   Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStovePot
2. 2
   Add the onion and fry 5–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.

To assemble

1. 3
   Add the carrot and cabbage and fry 3 minutes, stirring.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
2. 4
   Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and cook 5 minutes.

   Stove
3. 5
   Add the water, vinegar, sugar and bay leaf and bring to a boil.

   Stove
4. 6
   Turn down the heat and simmer 30 minutes.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
5. 7
   Season with salt and black pepper, taste and adjust the balance of sour and sweet.
6. 8
   Remove the bay leaf.
7. 9
   Sprinkle the parsley on top and serve.