Nordic

Surströmming

Name: Surströmming
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Nordic
Ingredients: 1 can of Surströmming (fermented Baltic herring); Tunnbröd (Swedish thin flatbread, either soft or crisp); 500g (1 lb) almond potatoes (mandelpotatis), boiled and sliced; 1 large red onion, very finely diced; 1 cup sour cream or gräddfil; Fresh dill and chives, chopped

Legendarily pungent Swedish fermented herring — best opened outdoors, then tucked into tunnbröd with onion, sour cream, and potatoes for a true Nordic adventure.

15 minutes

Serves 4

Main

Contains common allergens

Fish Dairy Seafood Tree nut

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Instructions

6 steps

1
IMPORTANT: Always open the can of Surströmming outdoors. Submerge the can in a bucket of cold water and pierce the lid underwater to safely release the pressurized, pungent gas.

2
Open the can fully, remove the fermented herring, and rinse them gently under cold water. Cut off the heads and carefully fillet the fish, removing the spine and skin.
3
Flake the potent pink meat into small pieces.
4
Lay out a piece of buttered tunnbröd. If using crisp bread, break it into serving-sized pieces.
5
Layer the warm, sliced almond potatoes over the bread. Scatter the flaked surströmming sparingly over the potatoes (it is extremely salty and intensely flavored).
6
Top generously with the finely diced red onion, a dollop of sour cream, and fresh dill. Roll it up or eat it open-faced, preferably accompanied by cold beer or aquavit.

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