What you need for okroshka recipe. Delicious okroshka with chicken - video

The Russian people can rightfully be proud of the recipe for this cold soup. Okroshka is part of the Russian culinary heritage, one of the most delicious and practical chapters of the large encyclopedia of Russian recipes. To be fair, we note that cold soups are present in the cuisine of many nations, and when you exhaust your supply of Russian cookbooks, you can turn your attention to gazpacho, tarator, and chalop. But do not forget that the secret of the pleasure that okroshka gives in hot weather is not so much in the cold serving, but in the fact that it is Russian, real, old - it is prepared with the most refreshing drink in the world - bread kvass. And this is her inimitability!

A little history of okroshka

The history of the appearance of okroshka has managed to hide behind the shadow of centuries, although in its current, “leavened” form, the dish arose by historical standards not so long ago - in the middle of the 19th century. And although the name leaves no doubt that in the old days the soup was the same mixture of crumbled products, its origin is subject to debate.

On the one hand, there is an obvious direct ancestor of okroshka - the poor peasant's dish "tyura" of pieces of bread flavored with onions and vegetable oil and doused with kvass. On the other hand, there is a version of the “tavern” origin of okroshka: in the 19th century, taverns began to “ennoble” scraps of boiled meat and corned beef with kvass, horseradish and vegetables.
Thus, the question of the birth of cold meat stew on kvass turns out to be rhetorical - did they start adding meat to kvass with pieces of bread, or, on the contrary, did they start pouring kvass into it...

Without being mistaken, we can say the following: even before the appearance of okroshka, there was a similar lean stew, which was later either supplemented with meat and fish components (as well as vegetables and root vegetables, which began to be cultivated later), or became the idea for the appearance of a similar meat dish.

Today okroshka has more many faces:

• firstly, it was mixed with ideologically similar oriental soups based on fermented milk products;
• secondly, products that were unknown at the time of its appearance can be used as a base - for example, soda;
• thirdly, industrially produced boiled sausage appeared, and with it the easiest, one might even say primitive, version of okroshka.

Composition of okroshka

The metamorphoses that occurred with okroshka during its existence led to the fact that not a single required ingredient remained in it. Popular dishes often have many variations, but if you don’t cook pilaf without rice or a sponge cake without eggs, then you can easily find two okroshkas that don’t have the same ingredients.
Taking this into account, in relation to okroshka it is more appropriate to talk not about each specific ingredient, but about their groups, taking into account the interchangeability of products.

Liquid foundation:
In the classic version, it is kvass, and not just any kvass, but light bread kvass (or just sour kvass - sweet drinks from bottles are not suitable). Further, in order of increasing exoticism - whey, kefir, acidified water with sour cream or mayonnaise, mineral water, ayran, kumiss, matsoni, sour berry decoctions, beer, brut, kombucha.

Meat part:
Pork, beef, poultry or hodgepodge of different types of meat. Meat can be boiled, fried, smoked. Old recipes also welcome cartilage boiled until soft.

A more modern option is boiled or smoked sausage, frankfurters, or ham.
If you compare the ingredients, the taste is preferable to meat - the soup with it seems to be more serious, more solid and even nobler. In addition, the presence of sausage in the dish is almost the very first argument of opponents of eating okroshka - because of the sausage it is called “Olivier with kvass”.

Fish or seafood can also be used instead of meat.– scallops, squid, shrimp. If you put fish, then choose varieties without small bones - cod, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon (and use only fillets).

Okroshka with salmon

Vegetables

Vegetables for okroshka are the part with which everything is more or less clear:

1 - cucumber. It is found in 90% of recipes, most often fresh, sometimes pickles are added, and sometimes both.
2 – boiled potatoes. It is not used as often as cucumbers (there is even a whole community of okroshka lovers who ardently advocate recipes without adding potatoes). Sometimes potatoes are not included in the soup itself, but are served on a separate dish as an obligatory addition.
3 – radish.

Leafy vegetables
Another common ingredient for okroshka is green onions. They put quite a lot of it into cold soup, after crushing it and grinding it with salt.
Also, sorrel, spinach, sauerkraut, parsley, and dill are sometimes added to okroshka.

Eggs

Okroshka is essentially a low-calorie dish. Even if meat or sausage is added to it, then only low-fat varieties (fat in cold soup is not the most delicious thing). Therefore, eggs play a special role in saturating okroshka with protein and fats. Recipes without eggs are very rare.

Condiments, spices, herbs

Simple okroshka recipes may be limited to 5-6 main ingredients, but often its preparation is a complex and multi-step process with a list of ingredients reaching two dozen items, some of which are seasonings.

The oldest seasoning for okroshka is table horseradish. It is added to the soup in grated form, first mixed with meat and leaving the meat to soak in its aroma.

Instead of horseradish (and sometimes together with it) it can be used mustard. Several teaspoons of it are diluted in the liquid with which the okroshka is poured. Mustard goes especially well with okroshka made with fermented milk products or sour cream.

Also among the spices that are suitable and used for preparing okroshka, it should be noted mint, basil, celery, tarragon.

Fruits

Lemons or lemon juice as a source of acid, as well as soaked and fresh apples.

Mushrooms

In mushroom okroshka recipes, mushrooms replace the meat part, but they can be used not instead of meat, but simultaneously with it. Mushroom pickers can afford to choose among milk mushrooms, saffron milk caps, porcini mushrooms, and oyster mushrooms, and residents of cities who do not have such a choice should try okroshka with champignons or oyster mushrooms.

As you can see, the choice of ingredients for a cold summer soup is very rich, but this does not mean at all that by taking the ingredients that are on hand, you will prepare a delicious okroshka, because not all of them are compatible with each other. In order not to make a mistake and not be disappointed with the result, choose a basic recipe, and based on it, experiment with adding new products, and it is better to experiment not with a full pan of the dish, but by pouring part of it into a separate plate.

Okroshka with mushrooms

Popular okroshka recipes

Classic meat okroshka with kvass

boiled lean meat
fresh cucumbers
green onions
hard boiled eggs
bread kvass
sour cream
dill
salt
sugar
mustard

The quantity and ratio of ingredients can be changed to suit your taste, but there is a conditional “golden” rule - for one person you need to take 1 egg, 50 g of meat, 2 medium cucumbers, a spoonful of sour cream, a small bunch of green onions, 1 tsp. mustard.

Meat for okroshka should be cooked until soft, and eggs should be hard-boiled. The cucumbers are first peeled, and the chopped onions are ground in a wooden mortar with salt so that it gives a little juice.

The eggs are divided into whites and yolks - the whites are chopped, and the yolks are ground with salt, sugar and mustard (ready-made mustard).

All prepared products are placed in one pan, mixed and diluted with kvass. Sour cream and chopped dill are added to the soup when serving.

Okroshka with kefir

2 cucumbers
4 radishes
4 medium potatoes, boiled with skins on
3 hard-boiled eggs
a bunch of green onions, dill, parsley and cilantro (several sprigs each)
200 g boiled chicken meat
1 l kefir
1 tbsp. boiled water
2-3 slices of lemon
salt, sugar to taste

Cut the radishes and peeled cucumber into strips, chop the eggs, meat and potatoes into cubes. Chop the greens, grind the onion separately with salt.

Dilute the kefir with boiled chilled water and pour it over all the prepared and mixed ingredients. Place the lemon slices, after squeezing a little juice out of it into the okroshka, and place the pan with the soup in the refrigerator (the kefir-based okroshka must be well-chilled).

Okroshka with mineral water

Mineral water okroshka differs in its filling. As the name suggests, this is mineral water, but not in its pure form, but mixed with kefir, sour cream or mayonnaise. The approximate ratio of dairy product (or mayonnaise) and mineral water is one to four or to six (for example, 250 g of sour cream per 1 liter of mineral water).

Okroshka with sausage on mayonnaise

In terms of the number of fans, okroshka with sausage has surpassed its ancestor - the classic meat okroshka. But in defense of the latter, it should be said that it loses not in taste, but in simplicity. Since a typical okroshka is a fairly simple dish, sausage is more suitable for it than meat. Although, naturally, there are gourmets who are not afraid of difficulties and who are not lazy to boil meat, make kvass on their own and spend a long time conjuring over seasonings.

So, a version of okroshka with sausage

3 pcs. potatoes
300 g boiled sausage (without lard)
3 cucumbers
4 eggs
bunch of onions
other greens to taste
lemon
200 g mayonnaise
boiled water
salt

The ingredients are prepared in the same way as for any other okroshka, and then mixed with mayonnaise and salt. Add a little cold boiled water to the finished okroshka so that the mayonnaise is evenly distributed, and then add water to obtain the desired consistency of the soup. At the end, add lemon juice and cool the okroshka.

Mushroom okroshka with kvass (an old recipe)

Ingredients for 4 persons:
1 fresh and 1 pickled cucumber
2 salted milk mushrooms
2 boiled saffron milk caps
2 boiled mushrooms
1 fresh and 1 soaked apple
5 pieces. boiled potatoes
1 baked beet
a quarter cup of cooked beans
1 tbsp. l. mustard (ready)
a little salt
a little crushed black pepper
1 tbsp. l. Sahara
green onions
parsley dill
1 l. bread kvass

Peel and chop cucumbers, potatoes, beets, apples. Chop mushrooms and herbs. Mix everything, add salt, pepper, mustard and kvass. Let it brew.

How to properly cut food for okroshka

You need to chop food for okroshka based on the general principles of preparing chopped dishes: soft ingredients are cut into larger pieces, and hard ingredients into smaller pieces.
The greens are chopped finely and can be additionally ground. Egg yolks can also be ground to give the dish an even yellowish tint and a more even taste.

The shape of the cut plays an important role. Our tongue is capable of perceiving not only taste - it also has tactile sensations, so pieces of regular geometric shape, especially hard ones, stand out from the overall composition of the dish and distract from the taste sensations. Because of this, you should not chop radishes, cucumbers, potatoes into the correct identical cubes - radishes can be cut into strips, cucumbers into thin rectangular slices, and potatoes can be cut into cubes, but they must be cooked completely until soft.

How to prepare bread kvass for okroshka

Bread kvass is made from rye bread. To obtain 2 liters of kvass you will need a third of a loaf of bread, 5 tbsp. l. sugar, 10 raisins, 1 g yeast.

The bread should be cut into thin slices and dried well in the oven until golden brown. The oven temperature should be set low - 120-150 C.

Place the prepared crackers in a three-liter jar so that they fill it by a third, and fill the jar with boiling water. When the mixture has cooled to just above room temperature, add raisins, sugar and yeast.

Leave the kvass to ferment in a warm place, covering the jar with gauze. Depending on the room temperature, bread kvass will be ready for use in 3-5 days.

Before use, it is filtered, and the remaining mass of crackers can be used as a starter for the next portion - it is returned back to the jar and again filled with water and sugar.

Okroshka vs cold soups of other nations

If we choose the characteristic “cold soup” as a basis for comparison, then it is logical to recall the popular Spanish gazpacho, Ukrainian beetroot soup, and Bulgarian tarator.

Comparing okroshka and gazpacho is practically retelling a popular joke: “like a camel, but not at all similar.” The only thing that these two dishes have in common is a refreshing taste, and even cucumber in the composition. Otherwise, they are different: gazpacho is a completely vegetable, puree-like red soup, okroshka - as we have seen, is a fairly hearty dish made from finely chopped ingredients.

The next candidate for comparison is beetroot. It looks more like okroshka than gazpacho, as it consists of similar ingredients - eggs, green onions, fresh cucumbers, sour cream. It is distinguished by the presence of boiled beets (they are boiled already chopped, and the broth itself serves as the basis for beetroot soup).

Beetroot has a very beautiful soft pink color with a purple tint, which is obtained by mixing sour cream and rich beet broth.

Tarator– Bulgarian half-soup-half-drink. Prepared with sour milk or yogurt with the addition of walnuts, cucumbers, herbs and vegetable oil. A bit reminiscent of okroshka prepared with fermented milk products.

Instead of an epilogue

I would like to end the review with the words “Okroshka is good in the heat!”, but this would not be entirely fair, because okroshka is good not only in the heat - it is good in itself - and in the heat it is especially good.

Summer is truly a fertile time for preparing cold, refreshing dishes, but it is a special season for preparing okroshka also because cucumbers, leafy vegetables, and herbs are especially tasty from the garden, and okroshka prepared in winter will be just a pale copy of summer.

Separately, I would like to say a few words to those who have not found a place for okroshka in their menu and in their hearts - do not be categorical! There are a lot of okroshka recipes, but even more have not been written down or even discovered. It’s impossible that among this great variety you won’t like a single recipe or suit your taste. Try, improvise, create. Do not limit your imagination, do not force yourself into the framework of prejudices. And don’t forget that tastes change - what you didn’t like as a child or a few years ago may well become your favorite dish today!

Since ancient times, people in Rus' have loved radishes with kvass; peasants in the fields snacked on bread and onions, washing down their simple lunch with kvass. Barge haulers on the Volga mixed kvass with dried roach, adding potatoes and other vegetables to the dish. In the 19th century, okroshka was not a soup, but an appetizer, so it was made very thick, adding everything that was available in the house, and each housewife had her own set of products for okroshka. A relative of this dish is botvinya - a cold kvass soup with herbs. Okroshka is one of the favorite dishes in Russian summer cuisine, so today we will talk about how to cook okroshka correctly. Despite the simplicity of this light soup, there are some secrets of its preparation that not everyone knows about.

What is okroshka?

It is mainly made with kvass or kefir, although sometimes beet broth, whey, kumis, ayran, kombucha, beer, berry infusions, cucumber and cabbage brine, mineral water and plain water with sour cream or mayonnaise are used as the base. The important ingredients of okroshka are vegetables - fresh, salted, pickled cucumbers or combinations thereof, radishes, potatoes, green onions, as well as eggs; If desired, spinach, sorrel and other greens are added to it. Okroshka also contains meat - beef, pork, chicken, boiled, fried or smoked. Meat can be replaced with ham, sausage, sausages, fish, seafood or mushrooms. Okroshka loves a lot of greens and fragrant herbs - parsley, dill, basil, tarragon, celery and mint. Some people call okroshka Olivier on kvass, and they are absolutely right!

If okroshka is not made with a kvass base, you can add lemon, sauerkraut, cranberries or pickled apples for piquancy, and mustard and horseradish for spiciness. In the old days, turnips, rutabaga, carrots and other garden vegetables could be found in this dish.

General principles and secrets of preparing okroshka

Okroshka is easy to prepare: the ingredients are washed, boiled if necessary, fried and cut into small pieces. It is no coincidence that the name of the dish comes from the verb “to crumble”. The ingredients are mixed with green onions, herbs and spices, and then poured with a liquid base - kvass, kefir or other drink. For okroshka you should use unsweetened kvass, it is usually called white, but many people these days successfully prepare okroshka using regular store-bought sweetish kvass.

It is important to cut the food into small cubes, and radishes and cucumbers can be grated so that they release juice - this will make the okroshka even tastier.

Since okroshka is a cold soup, meat and fish should be lean, while chefs recommend using two or three types of meat or seafood, which makes okroshka richer. The potatoes should be soft and crumbly, and it is better to grind the greens with salt so that the herbs impart their flavor to the dish.

How to prepare kvass for okroshka

Experts believe that the most delicious okroshka is made with homemade kvass made from rye crackers. If you want to make okroshka according to the classic recipe, you will have to learn how to prepare this drink yourself.

Cut 1 kg of Borodino bread into squares and dry them in the oven until dark, being careful not to burn the crackers. Fill them with 6 liters of hot boiled water and leave for 8–10 hours. Strain the kvass, add 10 tbsp to the liquid. l. sugar, 30–50 g of well-washed dry raisins, 20 g of dry yeast and let the kvass ferment for half a day. The appearance of foam indicates that the fermentation process has begun. As soon as the kvass becomes sour, put it in the refrigerator for another half a day, and use the sediment as a starter for the next portion of the drink.

Step-by-step okroshka recipe

Try making classic okroshka with meat. If this is your first time, use the step-by-step instructions.

You will need: boiled beef or tongue - 200 g, boiled potatoes - 3 pcs., hard-boiled eggs - 3 pcs., fresh cucumbers - 3 pcs., radishes - 5 pcs., green onions with white part - 1 bunch, dill - 1 bunch, mustard - 1 tbsp. l., kvass - 1.5 liters, sour cream - 2 tbsp. l., juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper to taste.

Cooking method:

1. Finely chop the green onions.

2. Grate the potatoes on a coarse grater.

3. Mix onions, potatoes and salt, grind them with a masher until pureed.

4. Cut the meat into cubes.

5. Grind cucumbers, radishes and eggs on a coarse grater.

6. Finely chop the greens with a knife.

7. Mix all the products in one bowl, add mustard and sour cream to them.

8. Pour kvass over the okroshka ingredients, add salt, pepper and lemon juice.

9. Place the okroshka in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Before serving, top the dish with sour cream and half an egg.

Summer cold soup is ready. Okroshka will definitely work if you have tasty kvass and quality products!

Okroshka on water with mayonnaise

The classic one with sausage is also prepared with kvass, but if you don’t have it, feel free to use water mixed with mayonnaise, it’s no less tasty.

Boil 4 potatoes and cut them into cubes, boil 4 hard-boiled eggs and chop with a knife or mash with a fork. Wash 3 fresh cucumbers, cut off the bitter peel from them if necessary and also cut into cubes, like 300 g of boiled sausage. Finely chop a bunch of green onions, a few sprigs of dill and parsley.

Mix the products in a saucepan, add 200 g of mayonnaise and pour in 1.5–2 liters of water, constantly tasting. The taste of okroshka should be quite rich and pleasant. After that, salt it, pour in the juice of half a lemon and add a little horseradish, mustard or black pepper if desired. Decorate the okroshka with radish slices on top.

And, most importantly, no one will guess that the okroshka is cooked in water!

Okroshka with beef and beet broth

Boil 2 beets and 3 potatoes in different dishes, hard boil 4 eggs. After the food has cooled, grate the beets on a coarse grater or cut them into thin, narrow slices. Chop potatoes, eggs and 2 cucumbers into cubes, chop 4 radishes into thin quarters, and finely chop a juicy and fleshy peeled tomato. Cut 250 g of veal, beef or chicken breast.

Pour the chilled beet broth over the food, add salt and pepper and adjust the required thickness of the soup. Serve the dish with herbs and sour cream, garnish with half an egg. If you are preparing low-calorie okroshka, replace the potatoes with young zucchini without seeds, and add low-fat yogurt instead of sour cream.

Okroshka on tomato juice with tofu

Pour boiling water over 3 cups of cherry tomatoes, peel them, and then cut them into 2 or 4 pieces. Chop 250 g of tofu and one cucumber into cubes, cut one bell pepper into thin strips, chop a bunch of onions and a bunch of any greens.

Mix all ingredients, season them with 1 tbsp. l. olive oil, 1 tbsp. l. wine vinegar, add a clove of chopped garlic and dried basil on the tip of a knife. Pour 2 cups of tomato juice over the food, add salt and pepper. Add sour cream if desired. This unusual okroshka will appeal to those who are tired of standard dishes and want to try something special.

On a hot day, okroshka can be served with ice cubes so that it not only satiates, but also quenches your thirst, and you will find okroshka recipes with photographs on the “Eat at Home” website. Experiment with new dishes and enjoy the warm summer days!

Okroshka is an absolutely summer dish. It's hard to find a person who doesn't love her. In our new review, we tell you how to prepare the perfect okroshka that your family will appreciate. It’s impossible to imagine a hot summer day without fresh and delicious okroshka. This is an ideal dish for this time of year, because okroshka is served cold. It is also a storehouse of useful vitamins and minerals.

Greens, radishes, cucumbers - these products can be consumed with almost no restrictions. The okroshka recipe is almost universal. There are not many variations on this theme, although some families still have their own culinary subtleties in preparing this dish. We tell you how to make your favorite okroshka even tastier and attract the admiring glances of satisfied family and guests. Have a delicious summer!

A little history

Okroshka is as much a hallmark of Russian cuisine as pancakes with red caviar and Olivier salad. The meaning of this dish is in the name itself. This word comes from the same root word “crumb” and suggests that all ingredients for okroshka must be cut very finely. It is impossible to establish exactly when okroshka appeared in Russian cuisine. The most common version refers to barge haulers on the Volga. For lunch they were given fish, which they had to soak in kvass due to dental problems.

Later, peasants began to experiment and add potatoes, radishes, cucumbers and everything that grew in their garden to the fish. This is how okroshka appeared. Traditionally, okroshka contains the following ingredients: potatoes, eggs, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, sausage or ham, sour cream, kvass or kefir. The classic recipe is recognized as the best, but today there are original and tasty alternatives to the usual okroshka that you can and should try.

1. Experiment with ingredients

The traditional okroshka recipe is rightfully considered the best. However, this does not mean that you are prohibited from experimenting. On the contrary, try unusual and interesting combinations, treat your family and friends, and memorize your favorite recipes. Instead of meat products, you can add fish or seafood to okroshka. Okroshka may also contain mushrooms (both fresh and pickled). You can also prepare okroshka not with kvass or kefir, but with beer.

2. Try okroshka with homemade kvass

Of course, not every housewife wants to spend time making homemade kvass, but as an exception, it’s worth a try. With homemade kvass, okroshka turns out so aromatic and deliciously delicious that you will probably forget about store-bought kvass forever. We tell you how easy it is to make kvass at home. You will need 1 kilogram of rye bread (ideally take Borodinsky), 6 liters of boiled water, 10 tablespoons of sugar, 30 grams of raisins and 20 grams of dry yeast. Cut the bread into small cubes and dry in the oven. Pour hot water over the resulting crackers and leave for 8 hours. Strain. Add sugar, raisins and yeast to the liquid. Let the kvass ferment for 12 hours. When a sour taste appears, refrigerate the drink for another 12 hours. Ready!

3. Prepare okroshka using homemade sourdough

If you don’t really like kvass or want to experiment, then prepare okroshka with kefir starter. This is another popular option for preparing your favorite dish of Russian cuisine. To prepare such a starter at home, you need to mix highly carbonated water and kefir in a 1:1 ratio. Add the juice of one lemon, as well as sour cream and salt to taste. Let it brew. Pour the resulting starter over the prepared ingredients for okroshka and enjoy the delicious food.

4. Pay attention to the mustard.

Some housewives add mustard to okroshka. How to do it right? Boil the eggs (as much as you need), remove the yolks from them. Then you need to grind the yolks with salt, sugar and mustard. Add kvass. Cool the starter. Then everything is quite simple: pour over the vegetables and add sour cream.

5. Don't stop at ham.

Some people like okroshka with sausage or ham, and some add beef or veal meat to it. It also turns out very tasty and even noble to some extent. If you still choose sausage or ham, then buy a product of the highest quality. Only in this case the okroshka will turn out rich and very tasty.

6. Choose only the freshest products

And of course, do not forget to check all products for freshness. This should always be done, but for okroshka this rule couldn’t be more relevant. The fact is that if all the ingredients are fresh, then the okroshka will literally melt in your mouth, and its delicate and at the same time rich taste will turn your head and taste buds. If any ingredient is stale, then there is a risk that it will have a negative impact on the final result.

Okroshka recipes

1. Okroshka with ham on kvass

Here is a recipe for classic okroshka with ham on kvass, which you must prepare to capture the essence of this delicious dish.

2. Okroshka with radishes on kefir

Okroshka can also be prepared with kefir. It turns out no less tasty than the version prepared with kvass.

3. Vegetarian okroshka

Okroshka can be vegetarian! If you don't eat meat, then don't be upset. Prepare a vegetarian version of okroshka, you will love it!

4. Fish okroshka with kvass

You can replace the usual ham with fish and prepare fish okroshka using kvass. It will turn out very original and tasty. A great way to add something new to a favorite recipe!

5. Okroshka with shrimp

The options for using seafood in preparing okroshka do not end there. You can add shrimp to the okroshka. The valuable protein they contain fits perfectly into the light concept of this summer dish. Bon appetit!

There are many options for preparing okroshka. Some make it with kvass, some with pure kefir, yogurt, mineral water and even water with vinegar, but in our family they make okroshka with serum, prepared from kefir.

For okroshka, we have a special seven-liter saucepan, since this dish in our family belongs to the category of everyone’s favorite and quickly eaten, so the amount of food will be given based on this volume. Usually it takes 40 - 60 minutes to prepare. The time depends on how quickly the whey is cooled. Let's begin.

We will need:

1. 3 liters of kefir (take the most common one);
2. 6 medium potatoes;
3. 7 hard-boiled eggs;
4. Fresh cucumbers - 4 pcs;
5. A bunch of green onions;
6. Boiled sausage – 500 g (usually we take “Doctorskaya”, or “Molochnaya”);
7. Mayonnaise.

First of all, we set the kefir, potatoes and eggs to boil.
Pour three liters of kefir into the pan, dilute with one liter of plain water, mix and put on fire. Don’t forget to periodically look into the pan and stir the kefir so that it doesn’t « ran away».

Next we set the eggs and potatoes to boil.

Let the whole thing cook for now, and we will start cutting the rest of the products. If you ever made Olivier salad, then everything for okroshka is cut this way.

Cut the cucumber lengthwise into 4 - 5 slices (depending on size), then cut these slices in half, and then finely chop them. The thinner the cucumber, the more flavor it gives to the okroshka, and if the skin is thick, then cut it off.

Cut the sausage into small cubes.

All that remains is to prepare the green onions and wait for the kefir to start boiling.

As soon as the cap begins to rise, this means that the kefir has begun to boil and divide into whey and cottage cheese. Don't miss this moment, otherwise you will have to wash the pan and stove.
Now you need to reduce the heat and do not let the cap rise, stirring with a spoon.

When the kefir boils, the cap will come off, and in the pan you will see whey and cottage cheese. Let them simmer for about two more minutes, then remove.

The pan must be placed in a cold place to cool the resulting whey. We always refrigerate the whey in the bathroom, i.e. pour water and place the pan with the lid open.

During this time, the potatoes and eggs should already be cooked, which means we chop the potatoes, having previously peeled them. We cut the potatoes, like cucumbers, lengthwise into three parts, where we divide each part in half, and then cut into cubes. True, it is not always possible to cut potatoes into cubes. It's OK.

When the whey has cooled, it needs to be strained, i.e. separate from the cottage cheese. If you don't have gauze at home, use a bandage. Stretch the bandage as shown in the photo and drain the serum into a suitable container.

When you're done, the curd should remain in the pan, even if a little gets into the whey - this is normal. Since we will still add a little cottage cheese to the okroshka.

Now you need to squeeze the whey out of the remaining cottage cheese in the pan. You can do this procedure through gauze or a bandage, or you can simply squeeze it out with your hands. Whichever is convenient for you.

After squeezing, place the resulting balls of cottage cheese on a plate, and in addition to the okroshka you have delicious homemade cottage cheese. Add sour cream or milk to it, you can sprinkle it with sugar or jam to your liking and...! Got a little distracted.

Leave a little cottage cheese at the bottom of the pan with whey; it will give the okroshka a piquant flavor.

Pour the whey back into the pan, add all the ingredients and crumble the eggs. You can chop with a knife or use a device like mine, but there is one caveat - after each pressure, roll the egg so that the pieces are not too long.

Add herbs, salt, mayonnaise, and stir the okroshka until the mayonnaise dissolves in it. In general, it is better to add mayonnaise and salt in portions, gradually bringing the okroshka to the desired taste. Add another 2 - 3 tablespoons of cottage cheese - it won't hurt.

Now that the okroshka is ready to eat, you can quench your thirst and hunger. But still be patient, and after the first snack, put the okroshka in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 hours so that it cools down, and during this time the food saturates it with its taste and aroma.

And when, after this time, you try the okroshka again, you will feel the difference.

And if you have any questions, be sure to watch this video.

Bon appetit!
Good luck!

Okroshka can rightfully be called an undisputed favorite of Russian summer cuisine. According to V. Pokhlebkin’s definition, okroshka is a cold soup made with kvass, in which the main component is not bread, like in prison, but vegetable mass. In this case, meat or fish components can be mixed into the vegetable mass in a 1:1 ratio. Depending on these components, okroshkas are divided into vegetable, meat and fish.

The history of okroshka, as well as the history of many other native Russian dishes, is extremely confusing and lost through the centuries. Some consider the ancestor of okroshka to be radish with onions and sour kvass, which was prepared in Rus' more than ten centuries ago. Others claim that okroshka is just one of the variants of turi, in which such an essential component as bread was replaced with chopped boiled vegetables. One way or another, this simple, tasty and satisfying dish has survived centuries and to this day remains one of the most beloved cold summer soups in Russia.

So, how to cook okroshka. To prepare okroshka in its modern sense, you will need any seasonal vegetables to suit your taste, boiled meat or fish and kvass. For okroshka you should use only special white, sour okroshka kvass. Sweet red drinking kvass is completely unsuitable for okroshka and spoils the taste of this dish. In general, there are as many recipes and methods for preparing and serving okroshka as there are Russian families who love to enjoy this cold and refreshing dish in the summer heat. Every home, every family certainly has its own special recipe for okroshka. The quantity and composition of ingredients used to prepare okroshka varies not only from region to region, but often from house to house. Some people use boiled vegetables and meat, others prefer fresh vegetables and herbs, some cannot imagine okroshka without horseradish and sour cream, while others prefer a dressing made from egg yolks and herbs. The most important thing in okroshka is to choose the best combination of all its ingredients that you personally would like.

It would seem that it is impossible to tell something new about how to prepare okroshka, and even a child can cope with its preparation, but this is too superficial and an erroneous judgment. Even such a simple and ubiquitous dish requires skill from the cook, as well as knowledge of the basics and secrets. Today “Culinary Eden” has tried to collect for you the most important and necessary tips and secrets of preparing okroshka, thanks to which you can please your loved ones not just with a light summer soup, but with a real little masterpiece of Russian cooking.

1. As mentioned above, only unsweetened white okroshka kvass is suitable for okroshka. Most often, dislike for okroshka is caused precisely by the wrong, sweet drinking kvass, which is completely unsuitable for crumble made from meat and vegetables. Only white kvass will give you the opportunity to fully enjoy the refreshing taste of okroshka. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to buy such kvass in a store, but this is not a reason for despair. You can easily prepare it yourself. For six liters of water you will need 300 grams. rye malt, 100 gr. barley malt and 200 gr. rye flour. Mix all the dry ingredients, add a small amount of boiling water and let sit for 20 minutes. Then bring the volume to six liters with warm water, add yeast and leave to ferment for 12 hours. When the kvass has fermented well, take it out into the cold and leave it to ripen for a period of 12 hours to 1 day.

2. In real Russian okroshka, it is necessary to correctly combine two types of vegetables: some hearty, neutral in taste (boiled potatoes, carrots, turnips, rutabaga, fresh cucumbers), others spicy and hot (onions and green onions, fresh dill, parsley, celery). Boiled vegetables, neutral in taste, are usually cut into small cubes, and the smaller you can cut the vegetables, the tastier your okroshka will turn out. These vegetables should make up approximately half of the total vegetable okroshka crumble and at least a quarter of the meat or fish okroshka crumble volume. Spicy vegetables and herbs for okroshka should be taken as fresh as possible. Moreover, at least half the volume of spicy vegetables should be finely chopped green onions. Before crumbling herbs into okroshka, be sure to separate all the hard stems and limp, yellowed leaves.

3. When choosing meat for meat okroshka, try to take the freshest, leanest meat. Tenderloin or carbonate are ideal. It is best to combine two types of meat or animal and poultry meat. According to V. Pokhlebkin, in the old Russian okroshka they preferred to combine the meat of pig, turkey and black grouse. Today, the most advantageous option for homemade meat hash is a combination of pork, veal and turkey or chicken breasts. In order to properly boil meat for okroshka and fully preserve its taste and juiciness, dip the whole piece of meat into boiling, lightly salted water and cook until tender. Remove the finished meat from the broth, cool and cut into small cubes. Do not immerse meat in cold water as for cooking broth! This will make it dry and most of the flavor and nutrients will be cooked out.

4. Any sweet, boneless type of fish is ideal for fish okroshka. Tench, pike perch, cod, lean pink salmon or trout are perfect. Fish for okroshka is boiled in a special way. Cut the fish fillet, completely cleared of bones and skin, into small cubes, lightly roll in flour and place in a gauze napkin or a special cooking bag. Tie the napkin tightly with coarse thread or twine. Dip the fish prepared in this way into lightly salted boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes. Cool the finished fish in a napkin, remove it and immediately add it to the crumble, trying not to let it get too dry. In extreme cases, you can use canned fish, for example, pink salmon in its own juice. In general, fish okroshka is considered obsolete, as less tasty than meat or vegetable okroshka, however, properly prepared fish okroshka is in no way inferior to its counterparts, and, according to many lovers of fish dishes, it is in many ways superior to both meat and vegetable okroshka in its taste qualities.

5. In addition to kvass and kroshev, okroshka also has a third, no less important component - dressing. Refueling, in turn, is divided into two types. The first type is a spicy dressing that is added to the crumble. Usually it consists either simply of good cucumber pickle, or of hard-boiled egg yolks mashed with mustard and black pepper. The spicy dressing is diluted in half a glass of kvass, seasoned with a crumbly mixture and allowed to brew for half an hour so that it is absorbed into the meat, and only then the okroshka is poured with kvass. The second type of dressing is finely chopped eggs, pre-boiled, and sour cream, which are used to season the okroshka as a last resort. In order to emphasize the taste of meat or vegetable okroshka, salted mushrooms or pickled apples are sometimes added to the spicy dressing. Mustard can be replaced with fresh finely grated horseradish, or you can add both if you like spicy dishes.

6. Of course, Russian okroshka prepared in compliance with all the rules and canons is extremely tasty and aromatic, but observing all the subtleties of its preparation takes quite a lot of time. If on a hot summer day you want to cook something quick and refreshing, then you will probably need a modern and quick “dacha” version of okroshka. Cut into small cubes a couple of boiled potatoes, 200 grams of boiled meat or fresh boiled sausage, one large cucumber and six radishes. Mix all ingredients thoroughly, add 50-60 g to them. finely chopped fresh herbs (green onions, dill and parsley), a tablespoon of fresh grated horseradish, a teaspoon of mustard, salt and pepper. Stir again and let stand in the cold for 20-30 minutes. Place the finished crumble on plates, pour in kvass, sprinkle with chopped eggs and season with a spoonful of sour cream. Serve immediately.

7. Another very simple option for preparing okroshka is perfect for those who follow a diet aimed at losing weight. This is the so-called green okroshka, an unusually light and refreshing dish of fresh vegetables and herbs, which is seasoned with cold kefir or a mixture of kefir and white kvass in a 1:1 ratio. On a fine grater, grate six fresh radishes and three young cucumbers, finely chop 100-150 grams. greens (green onions, dill, parsley, sorrel) and two hard-boiled eggs. Mix all the prepared ingredients, add salt, place on plates and pour cold kefir. This light okroshka will perfectly satisfy your hunger, refresh and add strength to you on the hottest day, without aggravating your stomach at all.

8. For those who prefer fish dishes to any meat dishes, you can offer a very interesting and extremely tasty version of fish okroshka. 500 gr. Boil the cod in lightly salted water, cool and cut into portions. Separately boil 300 gr. spinach and 200 gr. sorrel, rub them through a sieve, mix with 1 tsp. sugar and 1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest, dilute the resulting pulp with 1.5 liters. kvass Grate 3 cucumbers on a coarse grater, mix with 100 g. finely chopped green onions and place on plates. Place a portion of boiled fish on top, pour kvass with spinach and sorrel, add a teaspoon of horseradish and serve, garnished with a sprig of dill and a thin slice of lemon.

9. Vegetarians will definitely love mushroom okroshka. Rinse in cold water and finely chop 400 g. salted mushrooms. Do not use pickled mushrooms! Cut 250 grams into small cubes. boiled potatoes, 50 gr. boiled carrots and 200 gr. fresh cucumbers. Chop 100 gr. green onions. Hard boil 2 eggs. Grind the yolks with 2 tbsp. l. mustard, finely chop the whites. Mix vegetables, mushrooms and herbs, add a dressing of yolks and mustard, arrange on plates, and pour in white kvass. Add chopped whites and 1 tbsp to each serving. sour cream.

10. Like any other truly folk dish, the roots of which are lost in the past, okroshka has relatives all over the world. These are the Uzbek chalop and the Belarusian holodnik and the Bulgarian tarator. But the most famous and popular relative of Russian okroshka today can rightfully be called the Spanish gazpacho soup. This cold, refreshing tomato soup was invented in Andalusia, but today has gained well-deserved popularity throughout the world. It's not at all difficult to prepare. Blanch four medium tomatoes, peel and seed them, cut into large slices. Peel three cucumbers, remove seeds and skin, and chop coarsely. Remove seeds from two large sweet peppers and cut into six pieces. Place all the vegetables prepared in this way into a blender, add three cloves of garlic, a small head of onion and 3-4 tbsp. olive oil, grind everything in a blender until smooth. If the mass is too thick, it can be diluted with water or tomato juice. Pour the finished mixture into a saucepan, add salt, black pepper, 1-2 tbsp. grape vinegar and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Serve with white bread crumbs and slices of jamon or ham.