Herring with garnish
6 servings
30 minutes
Herring with garnish is a traditional dish of northern peoples, especially popular in Norway. It combines tender, slightly salty herring fillet with a rich assortment of fresh and pickled vegetables, creating a perfect balance of flavors. Historically, herring was an important food source for northerners as it was easy to preserve and available year-round. The garnish of potatoes, beets, eggs, and capers complements the dish by adding depth of flavor and textural variety. A dressing of oil and vinegar highlights the freshness of the ingredients and makes the herring particularly appetizing. This dish is perfect for both everyday dinners and festive gatherings, bringing a touch of Scandinavian cuisine to every home.
1
Before cooking herring, if it is very salty, it should be soaked in water or weak tea infusion for 3-4 hours. Herring fillets, cleaned of skin and bones, can be soaked in cold milk: it gives the herring a delicate taste.
- Fish: 1 piece
2
Herring is cleaned as follows. Cut off the belly edge, head, and tail, gut it, make a cut along the back, and remove the skin from both sides. Separate the meat from the backbone by cutting the rib bones from each half. Fold the herring halves together and slice. After that, transfer the herring pieces from the board to a plate or tray, and place the washed head (without gills) and tail.
- Fish: 1 piece
3
The prepared and placed herring on a plate or tray can be garnished with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, gherkins, pickled mushrooms (chanterelles or milk caps), boiled beets, potatoes, carrots, green or bulb onions, capers, and boiled eggs. All garnishes should be neatly and beautifully cut into circles, slices, cubes, or finely chopped. The garnish should be symmetrically arranged on both sides of the herring. Place the bulb onion on top of the herring in rings. Before serving, drizzle the herring and garnish with dressing.
- Onion: 1 piece
- Potato: 2 pieces
- Cucumbers: 1 piece
- Tomatoes: 1 piece
- Beet: 1 piece
- Chicken egg: 2 pieces
- Capers: to taste
4
Mix oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, and pepper (to taste), then add vegetable oil.
- Vinegar: 3 tablespoons
- Salt: to taste
- Sugar: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
- Vegetable oil: 1.5 tablespoon