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Estonian Chilled Cucumber Soup

A chilled soup of grated cucumber, dill, and chicken stock, finished with sour cream and egg yolks.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Cucumber and dill match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 530 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Estonian Chilled Cucumber Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the soup

  1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.

  2. Add the onion and fry it until softened but not colored, about 5 minutes.

  3. Stir in the cucumbers and 1 cup dill.

  4. Leave the mixture until the cucumber has softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

  5. Gradually stir in the stock.

  6. Bring the soup to a boil.

  7. Reduce heat to low, add salt and pepper, and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.

  8. Puree the soup in a food processor until smooth.

  9. Return the puree to the pot and simmer for 2 minutes.

  10. Remove the pot from heat.

Enrich with sour cream and yolks

  1. In a bowl, whisk the sour cream with the egg yolks until blended.

  2. Stir in 1 cup of hot soup.

  3. Whisk the mixture back into the pot, stirring vigorously until smooth.

  4. Add the lemon juice.

  5. Add more salt or freshly ground white pepper, if desired.

Chill and serve

  1. Cool and refrigerate the soup for at least 4 hours.

  2. Stir the soup before serving.

  3. Serve garnished with dill.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

552Calories
57 gProtein
22 gFat
27 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chicken100g cooked165
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Cucumber1/2 cup sliced (52g)16
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
White Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Dill5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cucumber + dilltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together530 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Onion + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + chickentop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Onion + dilltop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,639 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Kirby cucumbers
Make up most of the soup, giving its body, fresh flavor and moisture once pureed.
Sour cream
Adds richness and a tangy note that balances the cool, savory base.
Egg yolks
Thicken the soup and add richness, giving it a smooth, velvety texture.
Unsalted butter
Fats the onion as it cooks, carrying flavor into the soup base.
Chicken stock
Provides the savory liquid base that the cucumbers are puréed into.
Fresh dill
Contributes the herbal aroma that defines the soup's flavor.

The step that matters

Tempering the egg yolks. Whisking the sour cream and yolks, then adding hot soup a little at a time, gently raises their temperature. Adding them straight into the hot pot can scramble the yolks into small lumps, so the soup stays smooth only if the mixture is blended in slowly and whisked vigorously.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, cucumber, dill, chicken, cream, egg):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, cucumber, dill, chicken, cream, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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