Classical okroshka should be made of kvass only. In addition, it should be a special type, and usual kvass you can purchase in a supermarket is not admitted. In a supermarket in Russia you can find this special kvass, but not in the liquid form, but in the dry form. You will need to prepare this kvass.
Everyday okroshka
When we cook okroshka at home, we usually not follow the classic recipe. We usually use usual kvass bought in a supermarket. There is another popular beverage for okroshka in Russia. It is kefir. Only these two types of the soup are widespread in Russia.
Of course, there are many other recipes – with beer, whey, tomato juice and even mineral water. You are free to prepare okroshka with any beverage you like, there are even recipes with Coca-Cola, Fanta or Pepsi. But all these recipes may be called as exotic.
The list of vegetables for everyday soup consists of any vegetables you have inside your refrigerator. We use meat products like sausage or kolbasa sometimes.
Where and how to taste okroshka in Russia
The best way is to visit a Russian cuisine restaurant. Some national fast-foods also will offer this soup in Summer; the most well-known of these fast-foods are “Teremok” and “Mu-Mu”. The second place is hard to call as fast-food; it is something middle between fast-food and restaurant.
Sometimes you can find the mix for okroshka in a supermarket, you just need to flood it with kvass to receive a soup. But, this mix is rare, do not seriously hope to find it.
How to bring okroshka home from Russia
We think it is not a good idea. We already told above okroshka should flooded by kvass just before serving up. One hour after flooding vegetables will become soft and the dish will lose its good taste. In fact, there is no way to bring it from Russia.
If you are pleased with okroshka in Russia, then will be better to bring kvass. The mix is easy to prepare by yourself, and kvass is the only ingredient you will not find at homeland.
Something interesting about okroshka and Russians
Okroshka is the most incomprehensible dish of Russian cuisine for foreigners. Nobody understands the dish made of soft drink.
Some of us prefer to eat this soup with sour cream, and it is the second reason why foreigners do not understand this dish. The usual question is, "Kvass has a sour taste, why to add another sour product to the soup?" In case of kefir, okroshka seems nonsense, when one sour dairy product added to another. But nobody is amazing about it in Russia. Some of us eat wheat flour noodles with wheat flour bread.
Outside a large city Russian people eat okroshka at least one time in a week. In Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Novosibirsk and other large cities this soup is not an everyday dish.
We hope you will like Russian okroshka. Read other articles about Russian cuisine at our website (you may watch for links below and at the left from main article).