My wife likes cooking and I helped her make this Russian Borscht Hong Kong style soup. This is a spin on the original Borscht soup which uses beetroot but uses tomato instead. This soup is a very popular in Hong Kong cafes that you can also find in many bay area chinese cafe style restaurants. As I was helping her preparing the ingredients, I decided to capture some shots to share.

The soup uses a lot of ingredients so it is very tasty. The ingredients and instructions are below the pictures below and was found from the Just One Cookbook.

Cutting up the vegetable ingredients

More ingredients to add to the soup

The beef stew and ox tail that needs to be prepared and cooked before the boil

The final soup being boiled!

Goes great with bread! Yummy!

• 1.5 lb. (4-5 pieces) of oxtails rinsed and pat dried
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1.5 lb. stew beef, rinsed and pat dried
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 medium onions, cut into slices
• 7 celery stalks, chopped into small pieces
• 2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1/4 (3 cups) large cabbage, chopped
• 2 (32 floz) packages beef broth
• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. paprika
• Freshly ground black pepper

• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. salt

Instructions:

1. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil and add the oxtail. When the water boils again cook the oxtail for 10 minutes. Rinse the oxtail under cold water and drain it well. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile in a cast iron skillet (or frying pan), heat oil over high heat and sear the surface of the stew beef. This will enhance the savory flavor. Set aside.
3. In a large Dutch oven or pot (you will need 6 ¾ – 8 quart depending on the amount of ingredients), heat oil on medium and sauté onion and celery until they are soft.
4. Add the oxtail, stew beef, carrot, cabbage, tomatoes, beef broth, and tomato paste and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. During this time, skim off the scum and fat on the soup’s surface. This step can be tedious but it’s the key for clean (silky texture) taste when you drink the soup.
5. Add Seasonings A and reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for at least 1 ½ hours, or until beef is tender and meat comes off from oxtail bones.
6. Add potatoes and cook for 15 minutes or until tender.
7. Stir in Seasonings B. Mix well and it’s ready to serve.

At the Berkeley Marina, there is a super long pier that extends all the way out that gives a pretty nice view of the San Francisco cityscape and Golden Gate Bridge.

Fort Point is a national historic site at the edge of Golden Gate Bridge. The fort is open to the public 3 days a week for free Friday to Sunday 10am to 5pm. The fort was suppose to taken down but a special arch was built instead that goes over the fort in order to preserve it.