Vegan Shuba or vegan Herring under the fur coat or Seliodka pod Shuboy – one of the Soviet symbols of the New Year. Veganized.
Mostly all classic Soviet salads are made of boiled vegetables, some kind of meat or/and egg that are smothered with greasy Mayonnaise. As awful as it sounds but from time to time, especially during winter holidays we (Slavs) do miss this kind of food. Even if we hate it.
If you ask me why Russians eat so mush mayo I won’t give an answer. I really don’t know. Maybe because greasy food helps to neutralize the influence of alcohol. And we can drink A LOT.
This is how double-layered Shuba looks originally:
Vegan Shuba (Eggplant under the sea)
Vegan Shuba or vegan Herring under the fur coat or Seliodka pod Shuboy – one of the Soviet symbols of the New Year. Veganized classic Russian salad.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian, Soviet
Ingredients
- 2 medium beetroot
- 2 medium carrots
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1 small purple onion, finely diced
- 1 1/2 C vegan mayo
- 1 medium eggplant
- 1 nori sheet
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 C apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 C water
Instructions
- First start cooking vegetables. Boil or steam whole unpeeled potatoes, carrots and beetroot until just tender but not mushy. Make sure you cook beetroot in a separate pot.
- Meanwhile peel the eggplant and cut it into small thin pieces.
- Place nori sheet in a pot, transfer the eggplant, add salt and pour over water and vinegar. Bring to boil and simmer covered for 7-10 minutes. Let it cool down and marinade in cooking liquid. Then drain.
- Cool your vegetables. Peel and shred them separately.
- Now assemble the salad. First layer potato, then eggplant and sprinkle it with finely diced onion. Grease with mayonnaise. Add layer of carrot and cover with some mayo again. Lastly add beetroot and smother it with mayo for the last time. You can repeat it twice for more even taste.
- Place in a fridge overnight.
Nutrition
- Calories: 298
- Sugar: 5.5g
- Sodium: 816mg
- Fat: 25.2g
- Saturated Fat: 2.5g
- Carbohydrates: 16.6g
- Fiber: 4.4g
- Protein: 2.1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: salad, eggplant, beetroot, vegan fish, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, Ukrainian, Russian, Soviet
Looking for more Soviet Holiday classics? Try these:
- Vegan Soviet No-Crab Salad
- Vegan Olivier salad (Vegan Russian salad)
- Vegan Chicken Pineapple Salad
- Russian “Vinaigrette” salad
- Kutya (Ukrainian Christmas cereal dish)
- Vegan Russian Sprat Toast
Hi Anastasia, I’m very curious about this recipe, how exactly do you slice the eggplant, like into strips? And do I just put the nori sheet in without shredding it? I’m guessing that the nori sheet is there to give the eggplant the fishy flavour, but it doesn’t go into the dish itself and is later discarded, correct? If I don’t have the heart to discard the nori (lol), do you have any suggestions as to what I can do with the boiled nori sheet afterwards?
Sorry for the cascade of questions, I’m just really curious about this dish as I want to make it, as well as other recipes on your blog, but I don’t want to mess up! Plus I have my non-vegan family to impress…
Hi Alycia!
Simply cut the eggplant into strips similar to shredded veggies in size.
As for nori sheet, it falls apart while cooking and later it sticks to the eggplant. So in the end it is all mixed together. It looks a bit gross, but when coved in mayo it’s fine lol.
Hope it helps 🙂
Thank you for the reply! So I tried it yesterday. It turned out great! My mum loved it and says it tastes pretty close to the herring version. My brother thought it did have herring inside😅 So it was a success! Will definitely be making it again and also want to try your Vegan No-Crab Salad recipe next, it looks yummy!
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awesome! I’m glad that you and your family liked it!
Thank you for your feedback 🙂
Hi! Does the eggplant have pretty strong fishy taste? I just worried 1 nori sheet is not enough 😂 we don’t eat onion, so th eggplant has to have strong enough flavor on its own 🤣 thank you
Hi, Marina!
The eggplant has rather briny flavor than fishy. So if you don’t use onion, put 2 nori sheets just to be sure 😉
Hi – what size is the dish you assembled the shuba in?
Hi Kristen!
The size is 7×4 inches. 3 inches deep.
Thanks for the recipe. It hit the spot! I subbed mayo with cashew mayo as I try to be oil-free. It was the bomb! I would have never thought of making fake herring out of eggplant and nor I.
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Hi Anastasia!
Thank you for your feedback 🙂
Hi, I wanted to know how many milliliters of vinegar do you have in your salad recipe “fur coat”? It says 1/4, but what kind of glass do you have?
Hi, Irina!
I used 60ml of vinegar and the eggplant tasted more like marinated herring. You can use less vinegar (like 2 tbsp).
Thank you for the recipe, I googled with not much hope & am super happy to have found this <3
I made this recipe for some vegan relatives, and it turned out great! I couldn’t believe how well the eggplant substituted for pickled herring. The consistency is very similar to fish, and the nori has a lot more ocean flavor once you hydrate it. I used two sheets, and that was maybe almost too much. I did throw a few tablespoons of sugar into the eggplant pickle broth just to imitate the sweetness of fish. Great recipe. Thank you!
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