Scandi-Style Smoked Fish Salad

Scandi-Style Smoked Fish Salad is an easy, colourful main course salad.

You can include any smoked fish you like in this Scandinavian/Nordic-inspired dish. I’ve used pan-fried, lightly smoked salmon fillets, but regular smoked salmon, smoked trout or smoked mackerel will all work well.

Potatoes, beetroot and eggs plus a base of salad vegetables make this a simple, satisfying dish.

Cutting through the richness of the fish is a quick pickle of cucumber and red onion flavoured with fennel seeds.

Finally, the whole thing is brought together by a creamy horseradish and dill dressing made with sour cream or yogurt.

Jump to Recipe

Let me first say that I make no claims of authenticity for the lovely Scandi-Style Smoked Fish Salad I want to share with you.

But it is inspired by a particular combination of ingredients and flavours which those of us outside the region have come to know as ‘scandi’ or Nordic.

SCANDINAVIAN AND NORDIC FOOD

Given Britain’s relative closeness to the countries that make up Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, plus Finland and Iceland if we’re talking about the larger Nordic region), it’s perhaps strange that it’s only recently that we’ve become more interested in their food.

Perhaps it was the sudden awareness of  New Nordic cuisine (which often combined little known local ingredients with ultra-modern cooking methods) when Noma in Copenhagen was declared ‘the best restaurant in the world’?

Or maybe it was just those meatballs and mashed potatoes eaten in the cafes of a certain Swedish homeware company?

With its long winters, it’s understandable that many Scandinavian foods are preserved by salting, pickling and smoking.

And with a large coastline, much of that is seafood. Think of gravlax (cured salmon), pickled herrings, and smoked fish like salmon, mackerel and trout.

The short growing season means there’s an emphasis on root vegetables including beetroot, potatoes and horseradish.

In more recent years, the liking for spring and summer cucumbers, perhaps pickled with the popular herb dill, has extended throughout the year.

I think my Scandi-Style Smoked Fish Salad captures some of these traditional foods. I hope you love its simple, fresh flavours as much as I do.

You’ll find a detailed recipe at the end of this post. But here’s a summary of how to make the salad which will serve two people as a main course.

QUICK CUCUMBER PICKLE

The quick cucumber pickle will need to cool before using, so I suggest you make that first.

All you do is heat up some vinegar with a little water plus fennel seeds, peppercorns, salt and sugar to taste.

This pickling liquor is poured over thinly sliced cucumber and chopped onion. You can set this aside until needed.

If it’s more convenient, then it will sit happily if made a few hours ahead.

HORSERADISH-DILL DRESSING

The creamy dressing combines two classic flavours. Horseradish (I use horseradish sauce from a jar) plus fresh dill (if you only have dried dill, use half the amount given in the recipe).

I like homemade full fat yogurt for its creaminess without being heavy. Or you could substitute soured cream for an even richer taste.

The dressing ingredients are simply whisked together with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

SALAD VEGETABLES

As a base for the salad, I use more typical salad vegetables.

Lettuce, radish, shredded carrot and spring onion. Matchsticks of apple would be a fitting ‘scandi’ substitute for the carrot (squeeze over some lemon juice to stop it browning).

A few sliced gherkins are nice to add another pickled element.

I toss the vegetables with a very light coating of the dressing then divide it between individual bowls or plates.

FINISHING & SERVING THE SALAD

Now you can start layering on the other ingredients: your choice of smoked fish, sliced boiled potatoes and quartered eggs, cooked beetroot and most of the cucumber pickle.

A final drizzle of the horseradish-dill dressing, more fresh dill sprinkled over and the Scandi-Style Smoked Fish Salad is ready.

I like to serve it with more of the dressing on the table for people to add as they like, plus the rest of the cucumber pickle.

This salad may be a million miles away from the New Nordic cuisine that helped spark our interest in the food of this region (of which one wag said, “Reindeer and lichen, meet Thermomix and Pacojet”).

But I think you’ll love the combination of fresh, simple flavours in a satisfying main course salad.

HAVE YOU MADE THIS RECIPE?

LEAVE A COMMENT & DON’T FORGET TO RATE IT.

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Scandi-Style Smoked Fish Salad

A fresh, satisfying main course salad inspired by the flavours of Scandinavia. Your choice of smoked fish plus potatoes, eggs, beetroot, salad vegetables, a quick cucumber pickle and creamy horseradish and dill dressing.

Course Main Course, Salad, Fish, Lunch

Cuisine World, Scandinavian, Nordic

Keyword scandi

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Cooling the pickle 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Servings 2

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 300 g new, waxy or salad potatoes evenly sized
• salt
• 200 g smoked fish e.g. salmon, trout or mackerel raw, cold smoked fish such as lightly smoked salmon fillets should first be cooked (e.g. pan fried) and left to cool
• 200 g cooked beetroot cut into bite size pieces
• 2 hard-boiled eggs peeled and quartered
• 1 tbsp fresh dill roughly chopped

For the cucumber pickle

• 150 g cucumber cut lengthwise then thinly sliced
• Half a small red onion chopped finely
• 100 ml white wine vinegar
• 50 ml water
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 6 black peppercorns
• 2-3 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt

For the dressing

• 4 rounded tbsp soured cream or yogurt
• 1 rounded tbsp horseradish sauce
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ lemon juice only
• salt and black pepper
• 1 rounded tbsp fresh dill finely chopped

For the salad base

• 2 handfuls shredded lettuce
• 6-8 radishes sliced
• 1 medium carrot (see Recipe Notes) julienned or cut into matchsticks
• 2 large spring onions finely chopped or shredded
• 2 gherkins sliced or chopped

Instructions

1. Make the Cucumber Pickle

   Mix together the prepared cucumber and onion and put in a jar or other heatproof container.

   Put in a small saucepan the vinegar, water, fennel seeds, peppercorns, 2 tsp of the sugar, the salt.

   Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 1 minute. Taste and add more sugar and/or salt if needed, stirring to dissolve it.

   Pour the contents of the saucepan over the cucumber and onion.

   Make sure that the vegetables are submerged in the liquid then put on the lid and set aside until cold (approx 1 hour).

2. Cook the potatoes

   Steam or boil the potatoes with salt to taste until tender (20-25 min).

   Drain the potatoes and set aside until cool enough to handle then slip off or scrape away the skins.

   Slice or cube then set aside.

3. Make the dressing

   In a jug or bowl whisk together the soured cream or yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, horseradish and a little salt and pepper.

   Taste, add more seasoning if necessary, then stir in the chopped dill.

   Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, toss together all the ingredients for the salad base along with enough of the dressing to very lightly coat it.

   Serve the salad between two individual plates or bowls.

5. Share the potatoes, smoked fish, beetroot, eggs and approximately half of the cucumber pickle between each serving, placing them on top of the salad base.

   Drizzle over more of the dressing and scatter over the roughly chopped dill.

6. Serve with the remaining dressing and cucumber pickle on the side.

Recipe Notes

Replace the carrot with apple cut into matchsticks if preferred. Squeeze over lemon juice to stop them discolouring.