This wonderful Russian dish cannot be called original or unique - dishes like this, the history of which has been lost for centuries, are often found in traditional cuisines of the world. The Russian okroshka is cooked almost identically - with the exception of small features - the Belarusian cold, Uzbek chalop or Bulgarian tarator, as well as the Spanish gazpacho, the latter example being the most successful, as the Spanish food and Russian okroshka are incredibly close not only in terms of the set of products, but also in general taste sensation.
The preparation of a classic okroshka to an uninitiated person seems very difficult, but in fact this process is elementary, if, of course, you use the recommendations of experienced chefs during the preparation process. Firstly, it is worth remembering that only okroshny kvass is suitable for traditional Russian food - white and unsweetened. Secondly, it is necessary to combine products correctly. The recipe for a classic okroshka suggests two types of ingredients: nutritious - these include carrots, potatoes, cucumbers and turnips, and spicy (or spicy) - onions, green and onions, celery, fresh dill and parsley.
In addition, it is worth remembering that all products must be finely chopped, as finely as possible. The taste of the future dish fully depends on how small the cubes of boiled vegetables will be. On average, the volume of shredded vegetables should be half the total volume of okroshka, if you plan to fully vegetable food, and no less for fish or meat okroshka. Before you cook a classic okroshka of meat or fish, you need to make sure that these products are of high quality and are fresh.
An old recipe for a classic okroshka, which can still be found in some cookbooks, suggests taking two types of meat to create traditional Russian food or combining animal and poultry meat. Ideally, for a tasty okroshka, a combination of pork ( milk of piglet), with meat of black grouse and turkey is suitable. If you don’t have these products at hand for any reason, you can take advantage of what is in the refrigerator at the moment. For one of the simplest recipes you need to take: beef (350 gr.), Kvass (900 ml.), Vegetables - potatoes, cucumbers and radishes (3-4 pcs.). You will also need eggs (2 pcs.), Herbs with spices to taste and sour cream (100 gr.). To begin with, as the original recipe for a classic okroshka says, you will have to do preliminary preparation - boil the eggs and potatoes, then cool them and peel them. The meat, along with all other ingredients, can then be cut into cubes as finely as possible, greens, pre-rinsed, chopped, and then sent all “crumbled” to a deep pan. In conclusion, it remains only to pour all the finely chopped products with kvass, add sour cream and seasonings with spices to taste and, after cooling, pour on plates and send to the table.
A very interesting recipe is a classic vegetarian okroshka, with mushrooms and mustard. For its execution, you need to take about the same set of ingredients as the above recommendations. Potatoes (250 gr.), Salted mushrooms (450 gr.), Cucumbers (200 gr.) And carrots (50 gr.). In addition, you will have to take green onions (100 gr.), Eggs (2 pcs.), Kvass and mustard (40 gr.). Experienced cooks recommend starting with grinding egg yolks with mustard - together with kvass, they will serve as a dressing for okroshka. All other ingredients, including egg whites, will need to be cut into as small cubes as possible, and put into plates. After that, it remains only to pour “kroshevo” with a mixture of white kvass with mustard-egg mixture and cool slightly before serving.