Ingredients
Fish
- 3salted herring fillets, about 400 g
- milk or water, for soaking
Vegetables
- 4beetroot
- 4potatoes
- 3carrots
- 1onion, finely diced
- 1 tbspwhite vinegar
Also
- 4hard-boiled eggs
- 400 gmayonnaise
- salt and black pepper
- dill
Directions
- Boil the beetroot, potatoes and carrots in their skins until tender, then cool and peel them.
- Cook them in separate pans. Beetroot bleeds into everything it shares water with, and the layers are meant to stay distinct.
- Soak the salted herring in cold water or milk for 2 hours if it is very salty, then pat it dry and cut it into small cubes, checking carefully for bones.
- Toss the diced onion with the vinegar and leave it for 10 minutes, then drain it. This takes the raw bite off without cooking it.
- Grate the potato, carrot and beetroot separately on the coarse side of a box grater, keeping them in three bowls.
- Build it in a glass dish, spreading a thin layer of mayonnaise between every single layer.
- Layer in this order: herring, then onion, then potato, then carrot, then grated egg white, then the beetroot last and thickest.
- The beetroot goes on top and nowhere else. It is the fur coat the name refers to, and the colour is the entire visual point of the dish.
- Finish with a smooth layer of mayonnaise and a scattering of grated egg yolk.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, and overnight if you can.
- The rest is not optional. The layers need time to settle, and the salt from the herring has to travel up through the vegetables.
- Serve cold, cutting straight down through all the layers, with dill scattered over.
Technique
- A glass dish is worth using. Half the pleasure is seeing the stripes from the side.
- It has been a fixture of the New Year table since Soviet times and is made in enormous quantity for it.
- Salted herring varies wildly. Taste a scrap before deciding how long to soak it.
Substitutions
- Rollmops or matjes herring, rinsed, if salted fillets are hard to find.
- Half mayonnaise and half sour cream, for something lighter.
Variations
- With a layer of grated apple, which some households insist on.
- Built in individual glasses as a starter.
- Without herring, as a plain layered vegetable salad.
History
Salted herring layered under beetroot, potato and mayonnaise, a fixture of the New Year table since Soviet times.
Frequently asked questions
What is Dressed herring?
Dressed herring is a salad & side from Russia: herring layered ‘under a fur coat’ of beet, mayonnaise. Salted herring layered under beetroot, potato and mayonnaise, a fixture of the New Year table since Soviet times.
How long does Dressed herring take to make?
Dressed herring takes 45 min plus 6 hr chilling of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Dressed herring?
Yes, within limits. Rollmops or matjes herring, rinsed, if salted fillets are hard to find. Half mayonnaise and half sour cream, for something lighter.
What is the most important thing to get right in Dressed herring?
The beetroot goes on top and nowhere else. It is the fur coat the name refers to, and the colour is the entire visual point of the dish.
