Okroshka (Окрошка)

It's too hot here to eat soup. Everyone agrees. Sweating in our homes or at the lakeside, the idea of a muggy bowl of borscht is wildly unappealing. Since lettuce is hard to come by and I'm tired of the go-to Uke "salad" of chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, what's the next best cool-down meal? Cold soup. Cold dairy soup. It's really much better than it sounds.

There are several variations of okroshka broth. Some are made healthily with kefir or with yoghurt. Others embrace their inner trailer park by using mayonnaise. Still others mix in beets for a lavender, bridal shower look. The following is the classic recipe: sour cream diluted with water and zested with lemon juice. The result is extremely refreshing, crisp, and not entirely unhealthy.

You need to do a lot of boiling and cubing, so it's best to make a lot at one time. If you keep the broth in one container and the contents in another, it'll last several days in the fridge without getting soggy.

• 4 boiled eggs
• 2-3 boiled potatoes
• 2-4 cucumbers
• 250 g of ham
• 150 g of radish

Everything gets cubed up, about peanut-sized. 

Stir it all together with a handful of minced dill, parsley, and green onion.

The broth is easy. For every cup of sour cream, you need a litre of water. An average amount would be about a cup and a half of sour cream and 1.5 L of water, but some people like it chunkier. Add salt and lemon juice to taste. I don't know about other countries, but here it's possible to find citric acid powder (лимонная кислота), which is commonly used instead of lemon juice.



No matter how you prepare it, okroshka is a brisk summer treat. Spice it up with mustard or horseradish. Serve it with ice cubes. Use kvas instead of water. There's no limit to the number of variations! Enjoy, and stay cool.