Beef Shulyum (Campfire-Style Soup)

Rich, fragrant, colorful, and so tasty! Shulyum is a soup of the nomadic peoples, traditionally cooked in a cast-iron pot or a cauldron over an open fire. It's made from chunks of meat and coarsely cut vegetables. You can make shulyum at home on the stovetop, too.

Pearl

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Beef

500

Smoked ribs

200

Potatoes

700

Onion (medium)

Carrots

100

Bell pepper

200

Tomatoes

200

Garlic

Water

1.8

Vegetable oil

Bay leaf

Fresh herbs

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 31 % 4 g

Fats 38 % 5 g

Carbohydrates 31 % 4 g

81 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Step 1:

How do you make beef shulyum? Gather your ingredients. Bone-in beef is best — it makes a richer, heartier broth. Beef stew meat also works well (that's what I used) — that is, well-marbled meat with streaks of fat.
Step 2:

Rinse the meat under running water and pat it dry (if it's bone-in, trim the meat off the bone). Cut it into large chunks, about the size of a child's fist.
Step 3:

The soup comes out far tastier if you cook it in a cauldron or a heavy-bottomed pot (I used a pot). Pour in the vegetable oil and set it over high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the meat (and the bone, if you have one) and fry, stirring, until the pieces are golden-brown all over. This takes 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 4:

Wash one onion well under running water and cut the smoked ribs into pieces. Smoked meat isn't in the original recipes, but I add it to give the finished soup that distinctive whiff of campfire smoke. You can use just the beef if you prefer. Drop the whole unpeeled onion and the smoked ribs into the pot.
Step 5:

Pour in the water and bring it to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises with a large spoon or slotted spoon, add salt, and lower the heat to a minimum. Cook the meat, covered, for 1.5 to 2 hours (depending on the meat and which cut you used).
Step 6:

While the broth simmers, prep everything else. Peel the potatoes, carrots, onions, and garlic. Stem and seed the bell pepper. Wash all the vegetables and herbs in clean water.
Step 7:

Cut the tomatoes into medium cubes. I used a few cherry tomatoes — they're sweeter than regular ones and give the finished soup a richer flavor. You can peel the tomatoes first if you like: pour boiling water over them for a minute or two, drain, and the skins slip right off (I skipped this).
Step 8:

Cut the potatoes into large pieces. Why cut the vegetables big? Coarse pieces keep the most flavor and hold their shape in the finished dish.
Step 9:

Slice the carrots into rounds, then cut each round in half. Chop the onion fairly coarsely.
Step 10:

Cut the bell pepper into medium cubes. For a brighter, prettier soup, use peppers of different colors.
Step 11:

When the meat is done, taste the broth and add more salt if needed. Turn the heat to high and add the potatoes, carrots, onions, and peppers. Bring back to a boil, then lower to medium. Cover and cook the shulyum until the potatoes are tender — about 20–30 minutes (depending on the variety; test by piercing a potato with a knife tip).
Step 12:

Turn the heat to high, add the tomatoes, the finely chopped garlic (or press it through a garlic press), and the bay leaf, and let it boil, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
Step 13:

Finally, stir chopped fresh herbs into the shulyum — dill, parsley, green onion, or cilantro all work beautifully. Take the pot off the heat and let the fragrant soup rest for a while.
Step 14:

To serve, sprinkle the shulyum with ground allspice or black pepper. Enjoy!

If you like it spicy, add a chili pepper along with the vegetables in step 11, to taste. The amounts given make a medium-thick soup. Shulyum gets even more fragrant and flavorful after resting a few hours — by the next day it turns downright "magical" and incredibly vivid!
Important! Whether or not the recipe gives an exact amount of water, it's best to go by your own taste (thick or brothier soup), the size of your pot, and the ingredients you're using. Keep in mind the author has their own idea of how much meat, potato, grain, and so on belongs in the soup, and it may not match yours. In practice, that means if you're making it for the first time, don't cook a whole pot at once. Make a small tasting batch for one or two people: scale all the ingredients down to 1–2 servings, and figure the water at about one cup per serving for a very thick soup, up to 1.5–2 cups for a thinner one. Don't forget that some liquid will boil off as it cooks. After tasting a small portion, you can adjust both the liquid and the ratio of ingredients to suit you. After that, like most seasoned cooks, you'll be able to add the water and ingredients by eye.
For how to choose the perfect pot for soup, porridge, or pickling, see the article on pots.
For cooking, it's best to use filtered or bottled water with a neutral taste. Tap water can leave the dish with an off, characteristic aftertaste.