Never cook Shuba like this: what mistakes spoil the dish

The Shuba salad has long been a symbol of the holiday table. But this dish doesn't always turn out as appetizing as you'd like. Often, the salad tastes bad or falls apart.

The FoodOboz editorial team will tell you about the main mistakes in cooking Shuba. The tips will help you avoid problems and make the perfect salad.

1. Wrong choice of herring

The main ingredient in this dish is herring. A common mistake is to choose cheap or frozen fish. Herring should be fatty, freshly salted. It is recommended to soak it in milk for 1-2 hours to make the meat tender and get rid of excess salt.

2. Improper preparation of vegetables

It is better to boil potatoes and carrots in their skin to avoid excess moisture. Beets should be baked in foil. This will not only give it a rich flavor but also reduce the amount of juice that can spoil the texture of the salad.

3. The wrong approach to cutting or grating

Grating vegetables on a fine grater is a common mistake. This causes the layers to stick together and the salad to resemble mashed potatoes. Use:

• a coarse grater for potatoes and carrots
• a medium grater for beets

All vegetables should be completely cool before grating, because warm vegetables release more juice, which negatively affects the structure of the dish.

4. Too much or too little mayonnaise

There should be just enough mayonnaise to keep the layers from being dry but not too greasy. Each layer of vegetables should be lightly coated, and the top layer of beets can be left without mayonnaise to make the dish look more aesthetically pleasing. Important note: start with the potatoes, not the herring.

5. Ignoring additional ingredients

Finely chopped onions add brightness to the salad, but before that, they need to be pickled in a vinegar-water mixture to remove bitterness. And eggs are best mashed with a fork, not grated, as this will give the salad a more interesting texture.