Snake soup

Yesterday I promised a recipe for a simple, quick soup that you can feed the whole family without much effort and even, if you’re lucky, get a few words of gratitude from them. I will now try to fulfill my promise.

I just ask you not to twitch, gentlemen professionals, it is clear that there is nothing particularly original or original here, but just something between an old tavern “selyanka” and just an old, still Soviet restaurant “hodgepodge, meat”. And the advantages of this dish are not in some very refined taste, but in practicality, satiety and speed of preparation. Which does not at all negate the pleasure of proper use, in the absence, of course, of rejection of any specific ingredients.

Subtlety and complexity are, in fact, the only thing. Because the ideal base is a shank cut from a real Tambov ham. But there have been problems with it in recent years. And the ham itself of proper quality is no longer made anywhere, and retail chains have begun to behave hooliganly, they do not do the classic standard cutting and shank with bone or do not sell it at all, or sell it at the price of the ham, so it starts to cost one and a half thousand. Sometimes, when I really want to, I allow myself this, but, in principle, it is, of course, not at all correct. In fact, now, at least in the Moscow region, only Dymov produces a separate correct shank of Tambov ham, but it is also quite rare in branded outlets. However, there is an alternative. Mikoyanovsky, Klinsky and similar factories make an average “boiled-smoked shank”, not a masterpiece, of course, but it will do in a pinch. But it has an almost ideal size for the standard three-liter pan that we need in this case.

Now the other components. Three to four medium potatoes. Some consider them unnecessary, but I won’t even enter into a discussion here, you don’t have to put them in, but for me personally, potatoes are necessary here. A large tomato, a ten-centimeter carrot, an onion, two or three pickled cucumbers, just not to be confused with pickled ones, lemon, black olives, greens to taste. Regarding olives, I just want to draw your attention. We mainly sell them either with bones, which in this case is not very convenient, or stuffed. So, don’t accidentally take it with a fish filling like anchovies, it’s best with capers or at least lemon.

Next is meat. A few slices of boiled tongue, I personally don’t care if it’s beef or pork, a long Vienna sausage or a couple of regular ones, and a hundred grams of amateur or any other boiled sausage of this type. Here, however, you can continue to tinker with the delights ad infinitum, right down to kidneys and raw smoked Italian brisket, but I would advise you to stop at the above, otherwise you will lose two main advantages - simplicity and speed.

When the above is in front of you on the kitchen table, the rest is completely primitive. A third of the pan with cold water, add finely chopped potatoes, carrots and tomatoes. I cut the ham off the shank and the bone into the water. From the remaining ham, cut off a layer of skin and fat about a centimeter thick, cut into small cubes and send along with the bone. Once everything boils, put it on low heat and chop everything else. The only thing is that I would advise using no more than half of the ham, then eat the rest at breakfast, but this depends on your taste and the size of the shank itself.

Fifteen minutes after boiling, add chopped meat to the pan, after another five minutes, an onion cut in half and chopped pickles. Add two or three tablespoons of brine from these cucumbers and, if necessary, water so that a couple of fingers does not reach the edge of the dish. At this moment, some other fans throw in a spoon or two of tomato ketchup, but here I am categorically against it. However, as you know, my job is to warn. A couple of teaspoons of salt, don’t overdo it, it’s better to add salt later in the plate. After boiling again, literally in a few minutes you can turn off the stove. Everything is ready.

Take out the bone and place it on a separate plate, let it not interfere with pouring the soup and let it cool, the amateur will then gnaw it separately, after having greased it with mustard and pepper.

Olives, olives, herbs and lemon are dealt with as usual in such cases, but I would advise you not to put it first on a plate and then pour it into the soup, as some housewives do for convenience, but exactly the opposite.
And no alcohol. Drinking is a fight. Let our enemies drink their vile vodka along with all this.

PS Regarding the name. This is how my wife defines this work of mine for the sake of brevity.

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