Räksmörgås

Ingredients

The prawns

• 600 gcooked cold-water prawns
• peeled
• handpeeled if possible
• a squeeze of lemon

The base

• 4thick slices bread
• or 4 halves of a soft roll
• butter, softened
• 1crisp lettuce
• shredded

The rest

• 4eggs
• hard boiled
• 200 mlmayonnaise
• a good one
• 1 tablespoonlemon juice
• plenty of fresh dill
• chopped
• salt and white pepper

To finish

• lemon wedges
• dill sprigs
• sliced cucumber, optional
• roe, optional

Directions

1. Drain them well once they are thawed. Wet prawns make the whole thing soggy. Drain them in a sieve for a while. Pat them dry with kitchen paper. Leave it out entirely if you have no fresh. It must hold a heavy wet topping. Butter goes on before anything else. It keeps the bread from going soggy. Spread it right to every edge. Starting them cold varies too much.
2. Drain them and cover them in cold water. Cold water stops the cooking at once. Peel the cooled eggs carefully. Crack the shell all over first. Peel them under running cold water.
3. Slice the peeled eggs into rounds. A wet knife cuts them far more cleanly. Drain the prawns thoroughly in a sieve. Let them drain for a good ten minutes. Then pat them dry on kitchen paper. Squeeze a little lemon over the prawns. Do not drown them in it at all.
4. Stir the lemon juice into the mayonnaise. Add plenty of the chopped dill. Season it with salt and white pepper. Taste it and adjust the lemon. Butter the bread right to the edges. Spread it thickly rather than thinly. Lay shredded lettuce over the butter.
5. Shred it finely rather than in leaves. Arrange the egg slices over the lettuce. Cover the whole surface with them. Season them lightly with salt. Spread the dill mayonnaise over the egg.
6. Spread it generously and evenly. Do not be mean with it at all. Pile the prawns high over everything. Use far more than seems reasonable. The mound should stand well proud. Add a spoonful of mayonnaise on top. Lay dill sprigs over the prawns. Add a lemon wedge on the side.
7. Add cucumber slices if you like. Serving it is always done immediately. Serve it as soon as it is built. The bread softens within minutes.

Technique

• This is built entirely on prawns and shellfish allergy can be severe; they are visible, but say clearly what it is regardless.
• Drain thawed prawns in a sieve for a good ten minutes and then pat them dry, since they release a lot of water and wet prawns ruin the sandwich. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator rather than in warm water — most cold-water prawns are frozen at sea, which is no mark against them and preserves them well.
• Butter the bread right to the edges as a moisture barrier and lay shredded lettuce over it as a second one, since bare bread goes soggy immediately. Build it right before it is eaten and never ahead of time — the bread softens within minutes.

Substitutions

• Dried dill is not a real substitute, losing almost all its character; leave it out entirely rather than using it, which is the more honest choice.
• Some cooks mix the prawns into the mayonnaise and others spread the mayonnaise and heap the prawns on top; both are done, the mixed version is easier to eat and the layered one looks far better, and cafés generally build it layered.

Variations

• Pile the prawns far higher than seems reasonable — the mound standing well proud is the whole point, and a thin scatter is simply wrong. There is more prawn than anything else, and it is eaten with a knife and fork because it is far too tall to pick up.
• Cold-water prawns are small, sweet and firm where warm-water ones are larger and blander, and the difference is genuinely noticeable; handpeeled prawns keep more texture than machine-peeled and are prized in Sweden.
• The Swedish idiom glida in på en räkmacka — to glide in on a prawn sandwich — means to have had an easy ride, and is genuinely well known.

History

A Swedish café and archipelago classic; to glide in on a räkmacka means having had an easy ride.

Frequently asked questions

What is Räksmörgås?

Räksmörgås is a snack from Sweden: bread heaped with prawns, egg, mayonnaise, dill and lemon. A Swedish café and archipelago classic; to glide in on a räkmacka means having had an easy ride.

How long does Räksmörgås take to make?

Räksmörgås takes 30 minutes of preparation and 10 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Räksmörgås?

Yes, within limits. Dried dill is not a real substitute, losing almost all its character; leave it out entirely rather than using it, which is the more honest choice. Some cooks mix the prawns into the mayonnaise and others spread the mayonnaise and heap the prawns on top; both are done, the mixed version is easier to eat and the layered one looks far better, and cafés generally build it layered.

What is the most important thing to get right in Räksmörgås?

Drain them well once they are thawed. Wet prawns make the whole thing soggy. Drain them in a sieve for a while. Pat them dry with kitchen paper. Leave it out entirely if you have no fresh. It must hold a heavy wet topping. Butter goes on before anything else. It keeps the bread from going soggy. Spread it right to every edge. Starting them cold varies too much.