Yushka

Fried smelt – the perfect snack or hot dish. The meal is quick and very simple to prepare. It is incredibly delicious and will satisfy everyone. But only if you have very fresh fish. Here, freshness is the only and main criterion for taste.

Fried smelt

The mysteriously warm word "Ushnoye" has nothing to do with ears: to make the Russian dish ushnoye in pots, our ancestors took some kind of meat, usually lamb, and simple vegetables - root vegetables. The name "ushnoye" comes from the same root as "ukha," "yushka." It means something in between a soup and a second course. Ushnoye has been mentioned in ancient sources since the 16th century until the early 19th century. It was very popular. Even in the iconic pedagogical work for young boys "The Honorable Mirror of Youth," prepared by the decree of Peter I, it is said: "Do not eat like a pig, do not blow into the ushnoye, to make it splash everywhere." In his collection "Proverbs of the Russian People," Vladimir Dal gives this expression: "Beetroot telnoe, and radish ushnoye, this is the food of the stingy." Stingy - because you could use a little meat but simmer it longer with broth and vegetables in the oven. We propose a simplified recipe for this Russian cuisine dish. We will cook it not in the oven, but in the stove, albeit three times faster than the classic recipe. Instead of lamb, we will take chicken breast. And you can experiment with vegetables. We suggest trying it with potatoes or zucchini. Or with both. The proportions of the ingredients are conveniently given for one pot with a capacity of 400-500 ml. You just need to multiply everything by the number of servings.

Russian ear dish in pots

Don't be alarmed, mutton soup with turnip is not a treat made from lamb ears for pets. It’s not about ears at all, but about an ancient Russian dish, the name of which comes from the same Proto-Slavic root as the words "ukha" and "yushka." Ukha, the progenitor of all Russian soups, was once prepared not only from fish. Vladimir Dal defined it as: "meat broth and any broth at all, hot dish, meat and fish" and immediately listed a derivative word: "ushnoye"—"meat broth, noodles, or soup made from lamb intestines." Whether this is a soup or a second course is debatable. Rather, it’s something intermediate between a thick soup and a stewed ragout with broth. Similar to Hungarian goulash, German eintopf, or Irish stew. In English, there is an appropriate word "stew" for a group of similar stewed dishes. However, in Russian, "ushnoye" has been lost in the distant past. But that doesn't stop us from cooking a classic hearty mutton soup with turnip!