English term for a soup technique - help, please?

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CharlieD

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When I make cold red or green Borscht, it is a common practice to add an egg to it, when it cools down, to make the color lighter. I.e. red borscht becomes "hot pink" instead of "red". I know how it is done and what it is called in Russian/Ukrainian, but what is it called in English? Are you familiar with this technique? It translates as "making soup whiter". I am sure there is a proper term in English for it.
Thank you.
 
Are you looking for the term finish? If the egg is used to thicken the soup, then thicken might be the work you want--
"add the egg to thicken the soup..."


It seems to me it is added for another reason than to make the soup a lighter colour...otherwise, why wouldn't you add cream or sour cream?
 
When I make cold red or green Borscht, it is a common practice to add an egg to it, when it cools down, to make the color lighter. I.e. red borscht becomes "hot pink" instead of "red". I know how it is done and what it is called in Russian/Ukrainian, but what is it called in English? Are you familiar with this technique? It translates as "making soup whiter". I am sure there is a proper term in English for it.
Thank you.

Raw egg?

Never heard of doing that, sorry.

I'd make soup whiter by adding dairy.
 
Are you looking for the term finish? If the egg is used to thicken the soup, then thicken might be the work you want--
"add the egg to thicken the soup..."


It seems to me it is added for another reason than to make the soup a lighter colour...otherwise, why wouldn't you add cream or sour cream?

Thank you. But, no egg is not used to thicken the soup it is literally used to "whiten" the soup.
 
The egg wouldn't be raw if it's added to hot soup.

I don't know the proper word. :( The only one I could think of was emulsion - but that refers to using the egg to thicken and strengthen a sauce.
 
I'm not sure how adding a raw egg to cool soup is going to change its color.

I make cold borscht in the summer and I make it pink with sour cream.
 
When my dad made borscht, he too added egg and it definitely lightened the soup. I think he followed the Ratner's cookbook recipe. But, Im not sure of the name of this technique.
 
I think the term may be 'clarifying'...also used in making consomme (to clear it of impurities)
 
I think the term may be 'clarifying'...also used in making consomme (to clear it of impurities)

No, that's not right. You make a ground meat/egg white "raft" when making consommé to clarify, and then you remove it, along with all the impurities, and strain the broth, leaving a clear consommé.
 
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No, that's not right. You make a ground meat/egg white "raft" when making consommé to clarify, and then you remove it, along with all the impurities, and strain the broth, leaving a clear consommé.
OK...I did say "I think"...no problem
 
I would simply call it what it is, use the egg to lighten the color. I don't believe there is a definitive name for the technique, as it isn't used for any other recipes that I know of. The white color of the set egg-white, even though it is homogenous with the rest of the borsche is what lightens the color. But then again, I'm not classically trained and so might be mistaken.

Charlie, you're a creative fellow. Give it a suitable name, something like - "To lighten borsche, stir raw egg into the hot mixture, then let cool."

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
Charlie, you're a creative fellow. Give it a suitable name, something like - "To lighten borsche, stir raw egg into the hot mixture, then let cool."



This will get you egg drop soup!

Slow day at work so I thought a lot about it and researched it and still can't contemplate using raw eggs in cool soup for the purpose of lightening color.

I will be mankind borscht soon thanks to this!!
 
I guess we need a complete description of how this egg is added to the soup and how hot or cold is the soup when the egg is added.
 
I guess we need a complete description of how this egg is added to the soup and how hot or cold is the soup when the egg is added.


Complete description is simple. When soup is made, let it cool enough so egg doesn't get cooked when added. Beat the egg and slowly add to the soup stirring constantly. That's it.
 
I think the word you want is tempering. It's so the egg doesn't get scrambled when adding it to the hot soup.
 
I think the word you want is tempering. It's so the egg doesn't get scrambled when adding it to the hot soup.
I was thinking about "tempering". But tempering is usually done when the liquid IS hot enough to cook the egg. It's probably the closest we have gotten so far.
 
Tempering is adding some of the hot soup to the beaten egg to warm it before mixing both into the soup.

I don't think there is a word in English for Charlie's technique.
 
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