Czech · soup

Kulajda (Sour Cream, Dill and Mushroom Soup with a Poached Egg)

Kulajda (Sour Cream, Dill and Mushroom Soup with a Poached Egg) reads sourness 4.4, richness 3.9 and salinity 3.5 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Czech soup, about 36 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sourness 4.4 · Richness 3.9 · Salinity 3.5 · Herbaceous 3.2 · Earthy 3.2 · Umami 2.8 · Funk & Ferment 2.4 · Warm Spice 2.4 · Sweetness 1.2 · Floral 0.9 · Bitterness 0.9 · Heat 0.8 · Fruity 0.8

What's in it (14)

Time & effort: about 36 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 110.3 kcal, 3.6 g protein, 5.1 g fat, 19.5 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

  1. Simmer the potatoes in the stock with the allspice, bay, caraway and the reserved dill stalks for 15 minutes, until tender.
  2. Meanwhile fry the mushrooms in the butter over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, until they have given up their water and browned. Add them to the pot.
  3. Whisk the sour cream and flour together until completely smooth, then whisk in two ladles of hot soup to temper it.
  4. Pour the tempered cream back and cook 8 minutes at a bare simmer, stirring. Do not let it boil hard: full-fat sour cream will hold, but a rolling boil breaks it into curds and the soup goes grainy.
  5. Season with 2 tbsp of the vinegar, the salt and the pepper. Kulajda has to taste sour. The name comes from the same root as kyselo, sour, and a timid kulajda is just a mushroom soup.
  6. Poach the eggs 3 minutes in a separate pan of water with the last tbsp of vinegar, so they stay soft in the middle.
  7. Stir most of the dill into the soup off the heat.
  8. Ladle into bowls, slide a poached egg into each and scatter the last of the dill. The yolk breaking into the sour cream is the point of the dish.
  9. Substitutions: chestnut mushrooms can stand in for the mixed wild mushrooms; water can stand in for the light vegetable stock.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.