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Herring with Potatoes and Onions
Instructions
Prepare all the products for the herring snack with potatoes and onions. Choose a fatty herring - a lean one will be dry in the snack. Red onion is sweeter than white and works better for a "raw" serving, without giving a harsh sharpness.
Peel the red onion and cut it into thin rings. Red onion is an important touch: it gives a mild sweetness and a pleasant colour (unlike the harsh white onion). Keep the rings thin - thick ones will be too firm.
Take salted cucumbers (those who prefer pickled ones can use pickled). Small cucumbers are best. Cut them crosswise into rings. If the cucumbers are large, cut each ring in half again. An even size of the cut pieces makes the snack look attractive and easy to serve.
Cut the apple in half, then cut each half into wedges. From the wedges, cut out the tough seed casings together with the seeds. The casings must be removed - they are tough and "rubbery" and spoil the delicate snack.
Cut the apple wedges into small pieces. Mix the chopped apple with the cucumbers and onion, and add the corn. Drizzle the prepared ingredients with the herb vinegar - it will give a pleasant tang and the aroma of herbs, without the harshness of ordinary table vinegar.
Before cleaning the herring, put the potatoes on to boil in their skins. Potatoes boiled in their skins keep all their nutrients and do not fall apart - ideal for salads and snacks.
For the snack you can take a whole fatty herring, buy tender fatty fillet in a can, or herring in pieces. Lay the ready fillet on a napkin to dry it from the brine. With herring pieces, also pat them dry and cut along the backbone, removing the bones. A whole herring is cleaned first: remove the head, make a lengthwise cut along the belly, take out the entrails and clean the inside from the black membrane. Rinse and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut into fillets, which you then cut into pieces.
Add the herring fillet to the rest of the salad components. At this stage the dish is almost ready - only the sauce is left.
Mix the sour cream with the horseradish until smooth and drizzle it over the salad. Sour cream with horseradish is a classic Russian sauce: the creamy tang of the sour cream is softened by the sharp horseradish, without overpowering the flavour of the herring. The herring with potatoes and onions is ready - serve it with the boiled potatoes.
Tips
- 1
Choose a fatty herring - a "lean" one will be dry in the snack. The best are ivasi, Caspian or Norwegian. The tastiest is herring in brine rather than in oil.
- 2
Red onion is sweeter than white - use it. Raw white onion is "harsh" and will overwhelm the delicate flavour of the herring. As an alternative, marinate white onion for 5 minutes in vinegar with sugar.
- 3
Herb vinegar (or balsamic) gives a mild tang with the aroma of herbs. Ordinary 9% table vinegar is too harsh. I use a similar principle in other fish snacks.
- 4
Potatoes boiled in their skins are a secret of their own: they keep all their nutrients and do not fall apart. Boil until tender (20–25 minutes) and cool completely before peeling.
FAQ
How do you properly clean a whole herring? +
Remove the head and fins with scissors. Make a lengthwise cut along the belly with a sharp knife and take out the entrails. Inside, carefully scrape off the black membrane - it tastes bitter. Cut along the backbone and separate the fillet from the spine on both sides. With tweezers or your fingers, remove the small rib bones. Cut the fillet crosswise into pieces. With practice the whole process takes 5–7 minutes. Frozen herring is easier to clean (the skin comes off easily), but the flavour is a little worse.
What can I substitute for herb vinegar? +
Herb vinegar is vinegar infused with herbs (tarragon, thyme, rosemary). You can replace it with balsamic (dark, sweet-and-sour), apple cider (mild, fruity) or wine vinegar (similar in character). Ordinary 9% table vinegar can be used only diluted 1:1 with water, as it is too harsh. You can also make your own: pour table vinegar into a bottle, add 2–3 sprigs of herbs (thyme, tarragon) and leave for 2 weeks.
How long does the finished snack keep? +
The snack keeps for 1–2 days in the refrigerator in a closed container. It is tastier fresh - the herring and apple can release extra juice if they stand for a long time. So it is better to make only as much as you plan to eat in a day. If you leave it for the next day, stir it again before serving and add a little fresh onion. Freezing is not advisable - after defrosting the herring becomes "cottony" and the apple turns brown.
Can I make the snack without the sour cream and horseradish sauce? +
Yes, the sauce can be varied. Alternatives: simply olive oil with lemon juice (a light option), Greek yoghurt with dill (a soured-milk option), a mustard dressing (honey + mustard + oil, a sweet-and-sharp option), or mayonnaise with herbs. You can also serve it with no sauce at all - in that case serve with slices of dark bread spread with butter. Each sauce gives its own character: sour cream with horseradish is the classic, mustard adds piquancy, and olive oil keeps it light.
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