Zhur (жур, sour rye soup)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A 1-litre glass jar for the rye starter
• •A big modern stockpot
• •A wide pan for the zasmazhka
• •A whisk

Instructions

1. 1

   Ferment the rye

   Three to five days before cooking, whisk the rye flour with the lukewarm water in a clean 1-litre jar until smooth. Add the smashed garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, and the rye crust if you're using it. Cover with cloth or a loose lid and leave at cool room temperature, stirring once a day, until it smells like sour rye bread and tiny bubbles gather at the top.

   If the starter smells rotten, moldy, or sharply unpleasant, throw it away and begin again. Pleasant sour is what you want. It should make you think of bread, not trouble.
2. 2

   Start the broth

   Put the smoked pork and dried mushrooms into a big stockpot with the water or light stock. Bring it slowly to a gentle simmer and skim anything grey that rises. Keep it just moving, not roaring, until the meat smells smoky-sweet and the mushrooms have given the broth their dark forest taste.

3. 3

   Sweat the zasmazhka

   Warm the sunflower oil in a wide pan and add the onion with a pinch of salt. Let it soften slowly, then add the grated carrot and cook until the carrot slumps and the oil turns golden. This is zasmazhka, the slow-sweated flavour base, and it goes in near the end so its sweetness sits brightly on the broth instead of flattening into it.

   You're not browning the vegetables. If the onion starts catching, lower the heat and give it patience.
4. 4

   Cook the potatoes

   Lift the smoked meat out to a board. Add the potatoes to the broth and simmer until they yield when pressed against the side of the pot. Pull the meat from the bones or slice the sausage into thick coins, then return it to the pot with the mushrooms.

5. 5

   Add the starter

   Fish the garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, and bread crust out of the rye starter, then whisk the starter until smooth. Pour in about two-thirds of it while stirring the soup, then let the pot tremble gently until the broth thickens a little and turns creamy beige. Taste before adding the rest. The sourness should wake the smoke, not slap it flat.

6. 6

   Finish the pot

   Stir in the zasmazhka, grated garlic, marjoram, and horseradish if you're using it. Taste for salt only now, because smoked meat and rye starter both speak loudly. Let it sit off the heat for a few minutes, until it smells rounded and settled.

7. 7

   Serve with egg

   Ladle the zhur into deep bowls with a halved hard-boiled egg in each one. Scatter with dill and add smetana if you like a softer finish. The soup should be sour, smoky, bready, and thick enough to coat the spoon, not stand like porridge.

Chef Tips

• •The starter is the step that doesn't forgive rushing. Three days gives a mild sour, five gives more backbone. Taste it and trust your nose.
• •For a Lenten version, leave out the smoked pork and make the broth with extra dried mushrooms, onion skins, bay, and a spoon of sunflower oil. It is quieter, not lesser.
• •If your zhur gets too thick, loosen it with hot water or stock. If it is too sharp, add another potato or a spoon of smetana at the table.
• •Rye flour matters here. Wheat flour will thicken the soup but won't give that dark bread sourness, and then the pot has lost its reason.

Advance Preparation

• •Start the rye ferment 3 to 5 days before you plan to cook. Keep it loosely covered at cool room temperature and stir daily.
• •The soup can be made a day ahead and reheated gently. Do not hard-boil it after the rye starter goes in.
• •Hard-boil the eggs ahead and keep them chilled, then halve them just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 475g)