Sour milk okroshka
A classic summer soup in Russian cuisine, which is surprisingly well known in Estonia as well. I don’t know anyone who has praised the soup to the skies after eating it, but it is well-known in any case. As I understand it, there are broadly two types of okroshka cold soups – some are made with sour milk or kefir, others with kvass. Okroshka is usually made as a meat-free option and, in addition to herbs, contains potatoes, boiled eggs, and boiled carrots. Soups with sausage, ham or boiled meat are also common.
I needed to make okroshka in a way that wasn’t too easy, of course. First, I made sour milk, which in today’s era of pasteurization is not at all easy. I needed to find unpasteurized farm milk, sour it, and then I could start making the soup. When I was a child, when my grandmother made sour milk, it was easy and quick. Finally, I succeeded. I left the milk to stand under a towel, and in a couple of days the sour milk was ready. Apparently, sour milk is not something that many people like, which is why kefir is often used to make this soup these days. Making the soup is a quick process if you have boiled potatoes, carrots, and a boiled egg.
Preparation time: About 30 minutes
Level: Easy
Quantity: Serves 4
Ingredients:
700 ml sour milk (or kefir)
3 medium boiled potatoes, finely chopped
2 medium boiled carrots, finely chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
4 radishes, cut into slices and sliced
1 cucumber, finely chopped
100 g doctor’s sausage, finely chopped
100 g farm ham, finely chopped
A large handful of parsley and dill, finely chopped
A large handful of green onions, chopped into rings
1 boiled egg, cut into slices, for serving
Green onions and dill for garnish
A handful of black bread croutons, for serving
It is important that all components are cold from the refrigerator.
Preparation:
- Prepare the sour milk. Get some farm milk, pour it into a glass jar, cover the jar lid with a towel, and leave it until the milk sours and becomes thick so that it can be lifted with a spoon in small pieces. If a layer of cream has formed on the surface, remove it and discard it.
- Boil the carrots and potatoes; boil the eggs. Cool completely in the refrigerator and chop finely.
- Finely chop the sausage and country ham, cut the radishes into quarters and slice, finely chop the cucumber and also the herbs, parsley, dill, and green onions.
- To make black bread croutons, cut the sliced black bread into cubes and toast in a hot pan with about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil until crispy.
- Mix all the ingredients with sour milk, season the soup with black pepper and sea salt. Keep the soup in the refrigerator until serving. Serve very cold just before eating.
Sprinkle the soup with herbs, a quarter of a boiled egg, and croutons.
Ready!
