Russian Shuba Salad
This traditional Russian shuba salad is sometimes described as herring under a fur coat. Shuba is translated in Russian as fur coat. This shuba salad has layers of potatoes, herring and onion mix, carrots, egg yolks, egg whites, and beets.
Ingredients
- 2 medium purple beets, green leafy top removed
- 2 medium russet or gold potatoes
- 3 medium carrots
- 6 large eggs
- 12-16 oz package of herring fillets in oil (about 1 pound)
- ½ yellow onion
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
Instructions
Prepping the ingredients
- Fill the first medium-sized pot with water about half way. Add beets and place lid on. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med/low. Cook for 40-50 minutes until fully cooked through and a knife can be inserted and removed easily. Add more water to the pot as needed.
- Fill a second medium-sized pot with water about half way. Add potatoes and place lid on. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med/low. Cook for 15 minutes. Add carrots to the same pot and cook for 10 more minutes. Use tongs to carefully add eggs to the same pot. Let cook for 15 more minutes.
- Use tongs to remove the eggs, potatoes, carrots and beets. Set them all aside and let them come to room temperature before handling.
- Remove herring from package and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Pat herring with paper towels to remove most of the oil. Finely dice the herring and half of a white onion. Place them both into a bowl and mix until combined. Place into refrigerator until ready for use.
- Once the first set of ingredients are cooled to room temperature, peel the beets, potatoes, and eggs. Separate eggs yolks from egg whites.
- Use the large side of a box grater to grate beets and potatoes (separate them onto plates/bowls). Use the fine side of the box grater to grate carrots, egg yolks, and egg whites (separate them onto plates/bowls).
Layering the ingredients
- Using a spoon, add grated potatoes onto a large shallow serving dish. Spread into an even layer all across the dish.
- Next, add herring and onion mix over potatoes. Spread into an even layer all the way across the potato layer.
- Add 3 tablespoons of mayo and use a knife or the back of a spoon to spread it over the herring and onion layer. As you spread the mayo some of this layer and the next layers may get moved around. That’s okay, keep spreading as best you can.
- Repeat the layering/spreading process with grated carrots and additional 3 tablespoons of mayo. Add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of mayo if needed to cover the whole layer.
- Repeat with grated egg yolks and 3 more tablespoons of mayo.
- Repeat with grated egg whites and 3 more tablespoons of mayo.
- Lastly, repeat with grated beets and 3 more tablespoons of mayo.
- Place into the refrigerator and let rest overnight or at least 8 hours before serving. The shuba needs several hours of rest to let the layers absorb the mayo. When ready to serve the shuba salad, garnish with a few leaves of parsley or a sprig of dill.
Notes
For the choice of herring fish, pick something that is packed in oil. Pick some up from your local Russian and European Deli or from Costco. If herring is something you dislike, try using smoked salmon. Smoked salmon also makes for a great variation.