Sour Cabbage Soup

It's one of the most popular soups in Poland. It's extremely healthy and really usefull when you don't feel too well.

Ingredients:

1 litre jar of sauerkraut (sour cabbage, make sure it contains ground carrots), available in Polish and local shops)
Fresh pork ribs (1 kilo)
3-4 medium size potatoes
2-3 medium size carrots (peeled and chopped)
1 leek
1 parsnip (peeled and cut across)
1 celeriac (peeled and cut in half)
2 medium size onions (peel and chop them finely)
Salt
Pepper
2-3 bay leaves

Preparation:

Ready vegetables place in a pot and boil together with ribs. Add pepper and salt (or chicken cubes, or Vegeta) and boil till the meat is soft and comes out of the bones.

In a separate pan boil potatoes cut in cubes. (Again, they will not boil in sour soup; see Sour Cucumber Soup). Once boiled, rinse and put aside. Put the sour cabbage to a separate pan, add a glass of water and heat it up.

Make sure it simmers. Add water if necessary. Simmer till cabbage is soft.

When the meat is soft, take it out of the pan and let it cool down. Then, cut it from the bones and shred it. Then, add back to the stock.

Add boiled, soft cabbage and potatoes and stir well.

Finishing touch: pour a few table spoons of oil onto a frying pan. Heat it up and add chopped onions. Fry till golden and add everything to the soup. Stir well and serve hot with vegetables and pieces of meat.