Okroshka (окрошка, cold kvas soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A large mixing bowl
• •A sharp knife and steady chopping board
• •A jug for whisking the kvas and smetana
• •A deep ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Boil the roots

   Put the potatoes in cold salted water and bring them up gently. Cook until a knife slides through without cracking them apart, then drain and let them cool completely. They should smell earthy and sweet, not watery. Peel if the skins are tough; if they're thin and clean, leave them on.

2. 2

   Cook the eggs

   Lower the eggs into simmering water and cook until the yolks are set but still tender in the middle, not chalky. Cool them under cold water, peel, and chop. Keep one or two yolks back if you want a richer dressing.

   Mash the reserved yolks with mustard, horseradish, and a spoonful of smetana before stirring them into the soup. It gives body without making the bowl heavy.
3. 3

   Chop the garden

   Dice the cooled potatoes, cucumbers, radishes, spring onions, dill, and chives into small, even pieces. You want every spoonful to catch a little crunch, a little softness, and a lot of green. If using ham, boiled beef, or sausage, cut it the same size as the potato so it behaves politely.

4. 4

   Salt and rest

   Put the chopped vegetables, herbs, eggs, and meat if using into a large bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and black pepper, then stir gently and let it sit until the cucumber glosses and the dill smell rises. This short rest is the dish thinking before it speaks.

   Do not pour the kvas in yet. Salt first, rest briefly, then add the cold liquid at the end so the kvas stays sharp and lightly fizzy.
5. 5

   Mix the sour

   In a jug, whisk the kefir or smetana with the mustard, horseradish if using, and a ladleful of cold kvas until smooth. Pour this over the chopped mixture and fold it through. Taste now: it should be salty enough to stand up to the liquid.

6. 6

   Pour and serve

   Add the remaining cold kvas just before serving, stirring gently so you don't bruise the potatoes into paste. Serve in deep bowls with more dill and a spoon of smetana on top if you like. It should be ice-cold, sour enough to make you sit up, and green enough to argue with any grey idea of Ukrainian food.

Chef Tips

• •Bread kvas gives a brown-gold, gently sweet bowl; beet kvas gives a sharper pink one and feels older to me. Kefir stretches either version into something creamier, a bit more modern, and very welcome on a hot day.
• •Use small waxy potatoes, not floury ones. Floury potatoes collapse and cloud the soup before the kvas has a chance to speak.
• •The chopping forgives you, but the temperature doesn't. Chill the kvas hard and keep the chopped base in the fridge until serving.
• •If you don't eat meat, leave it out and add more egg, diced cooked beet, or white beans. Buckwheat and beans have fed our kitchens for centuries; the tradition got there before your restriction did.
• •Do not make this in winter with sad cucumbers unless you have to. In January, open a jar of ferments instead. That's not a substitute, that's the actual tradition.

Advance Preparation

• •Boil the potatoes and eggs up to 2 days ahead and keep them chilled.
• •The chopped base can be mixed and salted up to 4 hours ahead, but add the kvas only just before serving.
• •If making beet kvas yourself, start it 5 to 7 days ahead with beets, water, and salt, then chill it hard before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 545g)