Okroshka

Vegetable Soups | Russian

Okroshka is a Russian cold soup. It is made from finely chopped vegetables (radish, cucumber, potatoes, carrots) which are mixed with kvass, with addition of greens, eggs and meat (most often boiled beef or chicken; cooked sausage is also acceptable). Kvass is a fermented beverage made of flour and malt or bread; sugarless kvass is used for okroshka. All the ingredients are covered with kvass and garnished with sour cream (a thick fermented milk product, an analog of yogurt) and horseradish. Later versions of okroshka use kefir, sometimes in half with carbonated mineral water, instead of kvass. This version of soup likely traces its origin to the Central Asian chalop or Bulgarian tarator. There are even more exotic varieties of okroshka, such as with beer.

Ingredients

Hard boiled eggs - 2 pcs.
horseradish - 2-3 tsp.
fermented-bread sugarless kvass - 1 l
new potatoes boiled in their jackets - 2-3 pcs.
fresh cucumbers - 2-3 pcs.
cooked sausage or boiled fowl - 120-150 g
radish- 4-5 pcs.
green onion - 50-70 g
salt
sour cream for serving

Preparation method (receipt)

Cut the boiled eggs in half. Separate the whites from the yolks. Mash the yolks in a bowl with 1 tbsp. sour cream and horseradish. Season with salt. Dilute 200 ml of kvass. Stir. Cut potatoes (with or without jacket), cucumber, eggs and sausage into small cubes. Ring the radish. If it is big, cut it in half and then cut thin. Finely chop the onion and mash it in a mortar with a pinch of salt. Put the cut ingredients in plates and leave a few slices of radish for garnishing. Add a green onion. Ladle the spicy dressing and the remaining kvass. Add a spoonful of sour cream, garnish with radish and serve.