Silakka

Ingredients

The fish

• 800 gfresh Baltic herring
• silakka, cleaned
• heads and backbones removed
• left open as butterflies

The coating

• 120 grye flour
• or plain flour
• 2 teaspoonssalt
• 1 teaspoonwhite pepper
• mixed together

To fry

• butter, generously
• or a mix of butter and oil
• a heavy frying pan
• over a good heat

To serve

• mashed potato
• or boiled new potatoes
• lemon wedges
• chopped dill
• pickled cucumber

Directions

1. Take particular care when serving them to children. Finnish authorities publish consumption advice about this. Check the current national guidance if it matters to you. A butterflied fish cooks in a couple of minutes.
2. Butter burns easily, so the heat must be managed. It should smell clean and of the sea, never sour. Cook it on the day you buy it if you can. Fresh herring has bright clear eyes and firm flesh. Rinse the herring under cold running water. Rinse them briefly rather than soaking them. Then pat them dry with kitchen paper.
3. Remove the head and pull the guts out with it. Cut behind the gills but not right through. Rinse the cavity out briefly afterward. Press along the back to loosen the bone first. It should come away in one piece with the tail. Season the opened fish lightly with salt. Salt draws moisture out of the flesh over time. Wet fish does not crisp properly in the pan.
4. Mix the rye flour, salt and white pepper on a plate. Use a wide flat plate rather than a bowl. Mix the seasoning through the flour thoroughly. Press each fish into the flour on both sides. Press it down firmly so the flour adheres. A thin even coat is exactly what you want.
5. Coat them just before they go into the pan. The coating stops crisping properly if it does. Work in batches and flour each batch as you go. Heat a heavy frying pan with plenty of butter. The pan must be genuinely hot before fish goes in.
6. Butter burns quickly at a high frying heat. Lay the floured fish skin side down in the pan. Lay them away from you to avoid splashing. Do not crowd the pan with too many at once.
7. Work in batches rather than trying to fit them all. Give them about two minutes on the first side. Turn them once only rather than repeatedly. Use a fish slice rather than tongs for that. The coating should be crisp and golden brown.
8. Take them out as soon as they are done. Wipe the pan out between batches if it darkens. Add fresh butter for each new batch of fish. That keeps every batch tasting clean. Keep the fried fish warm in a low oven. Set them on a rack rather than on a plate. A rack lets air circulate and keeps them crisp. Boil peeled potatoes until they are entirely tender.
9. Start them in cold salted water rather than boiling. Give them about twenty minutes depending on size. Drain them well and mash them with butter and milk. Let them steam dry in the pan for a moment first. Wet potatoes give a sloppy watery mash.
10. Warm the milk before it goes in, since cold milk cools the mash. Season it well with salt and white pepper. Keep it simple rather than elaborating it. Pile the hot fried herring onto warm plates.
11. Serve them the moment they come out of the pan. The coating softens within a few minutes of standing. Bring everything to the table at once. Serve the mash alongside rather than underneath. That keeps the fried coating out of the moisture. Add lemon wedges and chopped dill to each plate. Serve pickled cucumber alongside the fish. Do not attempt to reheat it later.

Technique

• Baltic herring carries dioxins and PCBs, and Finnish authorities publish consumption advice limiting how often certain groups — children and people who may become pregnant among them — should eat it. The figures are revised periodically, so the atlas does not quote a number that may be outdated; check current national guidance if it matters to you. This is a documented official advisory about frequency rather than avoidance, and Baltic herring remains a Finnish staple.
• The backbone comes out but fine pin bones remain and are eaten — they soften enough in frying and this is genuinely how the fish is eaten in Finland. Warn anyone unfamiliar with the dish, and take particular care serving it to children.
• Herring is an oily fish and spoils quickly: buy it as fresh as you can, look for bright clear eyes, red gills and shiny skin, and reject anything smelling sour or ammoniac.

Substitutions

• Plain flour replaces rye, though rye is traditional and gives a darker nuttier crust. A spoon of oil added to the butter, or clarified butter, both handle the frying heat better than butter alone; all three are genuinely used in Finnish kitchens.
• Boiled new potatoes with butter and dill replace the mash and are equally traditional; pickled beetroot replaces the pickled cucumber in some households.

Variations

• Butterfly the fish rather than filleting it: cut behind the gills and pull the head away so the guts follow, then press along the back and pull the backbone out from head to tail. A fishmonger will do it, and prepared silakka is sold ready in Finland.
• Flour them only just before frying — floured fish left standing goes damp and pasty and stops crisping — and shake off loose excess, which burns and tastes bitter. Season with salt only a few minutes ahead, since salt draws out moisture and wet fish does not crisp.
• The pan must be genuinely hot with the butter foaming but not browning; do not crowd it, since crowded fish steam and go soft. Two minutes on the first side and a minute or two on the second is enough — turn them once only with a fish slice, since repeated turning breaks them apart. Keep them on a rack rather than a plate, uncovered.

History

Helsinki’s Baltic Herring Market has been held on the harbour quay every October since 1743, making it one of Finland’s oldest festivals.

Frequently asked questions

What is Silakka?

Silakka is a main from Finland: small Baltic herring floured, fried and eaten whole with mashed potato. Helsinki’s Baltic Herring Market has been held on the harbour quay every October since 1743, making it one of Finland’s oldest festivals.

How long does Silakka take to make?

Silakka takes 30 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Silakka?

Yes, within limits. Plain flour replaces rye, though rye is traditional and gives a darker nuttier crust. A spoon of oil added to the butter, or clarified butter, both handle the frying heat better than butter alone; all three are genuinely used in Finnish kitchens. Boiled new potatoes with butter and dill replace the mash and are equally traditional; pickled beetroot replaces the pickled cucumber in some households.

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

Butter burns easily, so the heat must be managed. It should smell clean and of the sea, never sour. Cook it on the day you buy it if you can. Fresh herring has bright clear eyes and firm flesh. Rinse the herring under cold running water. Rinse them briefly rather than soaking them. Then pat them dry with kitchen paper.