Meat Okroshka

Ingredients

Potatoes 2

Eggs 4

Cucumbers 4

Radish 12

Green onions 100g

Dill 4 tbsp

Basil 1 sprig

Beef 200g

Chicken (ham) 200g

Mustard 2 tsp

Kvass 1000 ml

Salt

Sugar

Sour cream

Wash the potatoes thoroughly and boil them in their skins in lightly salted water. Cool slightly, peel, and cut into small cubes. Hard-boil the eggs, rinse with cold water, and peel. Separate the whites from the yolks. Dice the whites, add mustard (preferably hot), salt, and sugar to the yolks, and mix thoroughly until smooth.

Wash the cucumbers and radishes and cut into strips. If the cucumbers have tough, bitter skin, remove it. Place the cucumbers in a separate bowl and sprinkle with a little salt to release their juices.

Cut the beef and ham into strips. Wash half the onion, all the basil, and dill, dry with paper towels, and chop very finely. Place in a large bowl, add a little salt, and mash with a pestle until the juices release. Finely chop the remaining onion.

Place the mashed egg yolks in the bowl with the herbs and mix thoroughly. Add the potatoes, egg whites, radishes, cucumbers with their juices, beef, ham, and chopped onion. Mix, season with salt to taste, and divide among bowls. Pour kvass and sour cream into each bowl.

 You can use any meat products to make okroshka: lean pork, boiled tongue, chicken, lean cooked sausage, or hot dogs. However, avoid lamb and fatty sausages.

The kvass should be unsweetened or moderately sweet. Special okroshka kvass is now available in stores. Homemade kvass is also excellent for this dish, as are natural yogurt, kefir, katyk, or matsoni.

Authentic okroshka should be thick and tart. To achieve this, beat the egg yolks with hot mustard, salt, and sugar. You can also add a little sour cream to the yolk mixture. Another way to thicken the dish is to mash the potatoes with salt, onion, and herbs, then add the remaining ingredients.

Enjoy!