Krupnik: thick Polish pearl barley soup on chicken stock
A winter soup that is nearly a dinner: pearl barley cooked in chicken stock with potatoes, carrot and a dried mushroom for depth. The barley releases its starch and thickens the soup by itself, no cream or flour. The next day it is as thick as a stew.
Your own work in that: 25 min.
- Stock 40 min
- Barley cooking 25 min
- Vegetables and seasoning 25 min
Step by step
0 / 5 doneMake the stock
Cover the chicken, vegetables, onion, mushrooms and spices with water, bring to the boil, skim, salt. Simmer 40 minutes. Lift out the meat and vegetables; dice the carrot and parsley root and set aside, pick the meat off the bones.
Ingredients: 2 pcs chicken legs · 2000 ml water · 2 pcs carrots · 1 pcs parsley root · 1 pcs celeriac, a piece · 1 pcs leek, white part · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs dried mushrooms · 2 pcs bay leaves · 4 pcs allspice berries · 1½ tsp salt
Stock from chicken, vegetables and a mushroomRinse the barley
Rinse the barley in a sieve under running water until the water runs clear. Rinsing washes off the dust and floury coating that make the soup cloudy and gluey; the starch the grains release as they cook is enough to thicken it.
Barley rinsed until the water runs clearCook the barley in the stock
Add the barley to the strained stock and simmer 25 minutes, stirring now and then so it does not catch. The barley goes on cooking with the potatoes; whole pearl barley takes longer than the finer cracked kind, so check it — by the end it should be tender with a slight bite.
Ingredients: 150 g pearl barley · 400 g potatoes · 30 g butter · 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley · ½ tsp black pepper
TipBarley absorbs a lot of liquid. If the soup gets too thick, add boiling water; krupnik should be thick but still a soup.
Barley swelling, soup thickeningAdd the potatoes and vegetables
Cut the potatoes into 1.5 cm dice and add to the soup with the reserved carrot and parsley root. Cook 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Add the chicken meat.
Potatoes, carrot, parsley root, meatSeason and serve
Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot, with a knob of butter melting on top, parsley and bread. It keeps 3 days in the fridge; it thickens, so reheat it with a splash of water.
Butter on top, parsley, bread
Before you start
On pork
400 g pork ribs or a piece of bacon instead of chicken: a darker, richer krupnik.
With dill
A handful of dill instead of parsley and a spoon of sour cream in the bowl: a lighter, spring version.
Meat-free
Vegetable-only stock with 5 dried mushrooms instead of 2, plus one more spoon of butter. A good choice for meat-free days.
