Shuba - Russian Fish Salad

Sunday evening Papa Bear and I made Shuba. This Shuba is a traditional Russian salad made by layering onion, fish, beets, potatoes, carrots and eggs. When it is finished it should look almost like a cake...something like this.....
We first started in a plastic bowl and saw that it wasn't going to be big enough, so we switched to the plate.
First dice up one medium sized yellow onion. Spread this around the bottom on your dish. (The large plate we switched to.)The next layer should be your fish. We call this fish selotka. I pretty sure it's smoked and salted herring in heavy oil.

We bought it at the Russian store. (Sorry my pictures are blurry. I was peeling potatoes and had dirty hands when I grabbed my phone to snap these photos.)

Dice up your selotka.....

And layer it on top of your onions.

I boiled nine potatoes. They are small and medium sized, so it wasn't too much.Peel and dice potatoes...
Layer them on top of your fish.

I boiled two pounds of carrots. I love carrots, so I usually use alot!

Again, peel, dice and layer.

Next up is eggs. We boiled nine eggs.

Peel, dice and layer.

Try to make your layers into either a square or circle, whatever shape your dish it. It makes for a much cleaner and nicer presentation.

And the final veggie that gives it such great color...beets! We used to boil fresh beet and chop them. I once was in a rush, last minute dish and I took out a can of beets, all ready boiled and peeled for me! Heaven!! It's just as good and sooooo much easier!
Chop, chop....we used three cans of beets.
And spread over the eggs as your final layer of vegetables.

Papa Bear took it down the sides too.

And the last layer and final ingredient......

Mayonnaise!! You can use light or fat free, but Papa Bear swears he tastes the difference, so we used regular ol' mayo.Dollop it on and spread gently.

Even Toby was watching all the action.... Completed!!!

It's really best to let it sit in the refrigerator a few hours. The flavors blend and the purple darkens...making it so pretty.

After a couple of hours....it looks like a cake with a pretty frosting!

This is how the color deepens over night....

And look at those perfect layers of goodness......

It was super delicious!!!

I did think it needed a little salt. I would recommend just a light dashing of salt on the carrots and an even lighter dash over the eggs. The potatoes will get enough salt from the fish.

This is our Shuba. It's a favorite here at home. Everyone (except CC) loves it! And when we go to Russian parties they always ask us to make Shuba.....