The Estonian cure: hapukapsasupp.
We already gave you some tips and tricks to get rid of your hangover. But every country has its own traditional dishes to make the process go faster. We like to give you a taste of the international anti-hangover cuisine. In this episode we will explain how to make a dish from Estonia that goes by the great name hapukapsasupp, which literally means sauerkraut soup. It is commonly served for breakfast at for example fraternity houses. In other words: places where people can use a hangover cure. It’s pretty easy to make and quite effective.
First of all we need to give credits to Maiu from the weblog Toronto Cooks. She is a born Estonian who provided us with the recipe for this sauerkraut soup. We thank you Maiu! Now about Estonia, which is the northernmost of the three Baltic States and the most popular destination for booze cruises from Scandinavia. As you probably know alcohol is heavily taxed in Sweden and Finland and therefor quite expensive. But as soon as they set foot on the boat to Estonia the prices drop big time. Many Swedish people with a 2 way ticket don’t even get off and stay on the boat the entire time. Now this is also a bit of a waste since Estonia has a lot to enjoy while having some drinks. A lot of Finnish guys make it a weekend of alcohol tourism. And boy, did they come to the right place.
Like most countries in the region vodka and beer are the most common drinks in Estonia. But if you want something typically Estonian you should try Vana Talinn, a rum-based liqueur with an alcohol content of 50. Estonians themselves of course also hold their liquor quite well. A fact that anti-alcohol activist Lauri Beekmann managed to spin to this quote: “We are a tiny nation of 1.4 million people and one of the world’s fastest shrinking population. A country like ours will die out if it keeps drinking like this.” Propaganda no doubt, but it does paint a picture of a country of excellent drinkers.
Also a kind of people that may need a solid hangover cure from time to time and luckily the Estonians found one. Hapukapsasupp is not just a funny word, it’s a highly effective medicine after a night of partying. Plus it’s tasty and easy to make, which is also convenient when you’re feeling not your best. As said we bring you Maiu’s recipe but it’s also not uncommon to add extra ingredients like potatoes, carrots. onions, parsley and black peppercorns. Well, here we go…
Ingredients:
500 grams of fresh sauerkraut
400 grams of pork meat
100 grams of barley
salt
Preparation:
Put the sauerkraut and barley in a pot along with 2 liter s of water. Meanwhile cut the pork meat in half, put it in another pot with water and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 5 to 10 minutes, then take it out and rinse with cold water. Now you can add it to the pot of the sauerkraut and barley. Let this pot simmer on low heat for about 2,5 hours and stir every 30 minutes. When you think the soup is getting to thick, add water.
Half an hour before the soup is done you take out the pork meat, cut it up and put it back in the pot for the last 30 minutes. Add salt to taste and you are done. Enjoy your Estonian hangover cure. Terviseks!
Micky Bumbar
Lords of the Drinks 
Gah, need to make this posthaste. DX
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Haha planning to do some drinking today? It is indeed wise to prepare this soup the night before. It’s not too difficult but it does take a lot of time to prepare it right. Cheers,
Micky
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It’s kind of morphed into a week full of drinking, lol. But with company over and hangovers running wild, I need to try this. 🙂
Cheers backatcha! 🙂
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Haha excellent. Good luck mate. Also it works even faster with some beers next to it. 😉
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Noted! :p :p
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Awesome post, love it! Thank you for using my recipe!
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We are the ones who are thankful!
Cheers,
Micky
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this post made me hungry and now i am itching to cut open the cabbage and git the soup pot on. thank u for the recipe. i will modify it some but at least i am motivated.
how does one pronounce that soup name?
ugh, my tongue gets tangled. lol 🙂
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Glad you like it. I presume that you pronounce it as Ha-Poo-cup-sa-soop.
Cheers,
Micky
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Oh, it sounds almost like: have a poo cuppa soup…lol…i think i will pass on the poo part…omg…can u believe where my crazy mind is today! haahhaa! 🙂
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Hahaha get your mind out of the gutter Steph! 😉
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This sounds AWESOME. As much as I always crave McDonald’s or Dominos when hungover, I bet this is much better for you in terms of actual nourishment! Got to get this made one weekend. 😃👍
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Oh indeed. And the best is that you don’t have to go far if you have a pot prepared and well in the kitchen. Cheers,
Micky
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Also, add one-two teaspoon of sour cream. It cools the soup down a bit on your plate and tastes even better!
Terviseks!
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Good advice! I’ll keep that in mind next time I prepare it.
Cheers,
Micky
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I would prefer seljanka 🙂 there u can add hapukoor (sour cream), and its delicious, don’t like hapukapsasupp (:
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Well that’s no problem Karmen. Everyone is different. Here’s a nice recipe for solyanka too: http://lordsofthedrinks.com/2014/08/18/solyanka-the-traditional-hangover-cure-from-ukraine/
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Cheers,
Micky
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Try adding 4 or 5 grated carrots and boil for about 15 minutes and then serve.
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Thanks for the tip!
Cheers,
Micky
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Sounds delicious…. Hangover or no hangover, this has three of my favorite ingredients. Barley is not well-known or used very much by your average North American, but I was a vegetarian for a while and that tends to broaden your horizons…It’s very soothing and a satisfying not-too-soft texture. I’m inspired enough that I might even make some sauerkraut, which I used to do years ago. I’m enjoying your blog, I was looking for the correct way to toast someone in Russian and that led me here.
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Hi David,
I’m very glad you looked a bit further than the first post and even more thrilled you like what you saw. Have a great weekend.
Cheers,
Micky
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