Krill Meat Salad with Eggs, Rice and Corn – Step-by-Step Recipe
When I was little, krill meat salad was something we made at home. Not for New Year's, of course – that would be close to sacrilege. It is a tasty appetizer, fairly light and a great fit for a festive table, just like shrimp salad. We make this dish without the usual boiled vegetables, replacing them with rice, and for the dressing you can use mayonnaise or a yogurt-based sauce.
As I recall, krill meat was not sold in “ordinary” shops, but it was easy enough to find in specialized ones, or it turned up now and then at various distribution outlets. Small cans of peeled, ready-to-eat krill – for the dish you only need to drain off the liquid. It is tasty, healthy and low in calories, with vitamins, easily digested protein and fatty acids.
Krill are tiny crustaceans, plankton that lives in the upper layers of the ocean – back home it has long been thought of as “Antarctic shrimp”. It is a very diverse group of sea creatures that serves as food for larger species, including whales, which filter the plankton out of the water and then eat it. People boil the crustaceans, remove the shells and can or freeze the meat.
Interestingly, this product is recommended specifically for salads, because it is good for you. On its own, the meat of these crustaceans is a little tough and noticeably salty. I don't like it plain. Krill meat salad, however, has a delicate flavor – as long as you don't overdo the mayonnaise dressing and the strongly scented ingredients.
As a rule, the peeled meat is sold in small cans holding 100-120 grams of product. The contents are shelled crustaceans, water and salt. The most important thing is to buy a recently packed product, because now and then you can end up with stock that has been sitting on the shelf too long.
Ideally, or so the advice goes, the appetizer is made with green vegetables, leafy greens, eggs and nuts, with lemon juice in the dressing. In practice, to make it more filling, potatoes or rice go into the salad, and canned green peas or corn are often added. Since most of the ingredients taste fairly neutral, pickled gherkins and Dijon mustard are added to the mayonnaise-based dressing.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Krill meat 1 small can
- Fresh cucumber 1
- Sweet white onion 1
- Egg 2
- Pickled gherkins 5-6
- Canned corn 100 g
- Rice 50 g
- Arugula, lettuce for serving
- Mayonnaise, ketchup for the dressing
- Salt, black pepper to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- Krill meat salad is easy and fairly quick to make. Hard-boil the eggs ahead of time, cool them under running water, then peel. Rinse a little rice of a non-sticky variety and cook it until fully done. The cooked rice also has to cool down. None of the other ingredients need any advance preparation.
- To keep the rice from clumping, rinse it with cold water and let it drain. Transfer the cooked rice to a deep bowl. Drain the liquid from the can of corn and add the kernels to the bowl with the rice. Drain the brine from the krill meat as well – it doesn't hurt to make sure the product is fresh.
- A fresh, juicy cucumber doesn't have to be peeled. But if the skin is tough, it is better to cut it off. Dice the cucumber as you would for Olivier salad. Cut the gherkins a little smaller. Peel the sweet white onion and slice it into thin rings or half rings. If it is sharp, it is better to marinate it for 10-15 minutes in a little wine vinegar or in the brine from the gherkin jar, then squeeze it lightly.
- I don't use the egg yolk in this dish – its flavor clearly stands out against the other ingredients. Chop the whites with a knife and add them to the salad bowl. By the way, I keep a small piece of the cooked yolk to garnish the salad, so it ends up looking colorful. Season everything with freshly ground black pepper; you can add salt, but only a very little.
- A few words about the dressing – by and large, 1-2 tbsp of plain mayonnaise will be enough. Mayonnaise is easy to make yourself if you have a mixer. Or, which is no longer a problem, you can buy a ready-made sauce of perfectly decent quality. When I make krill meat salad, I mix 2 tbsp of mayonnaise with 1 tsp of tomato ketchup – we make it in summer, and it keeps well in the fridge. This sauce works great as a dressing. Or, as many people prefer, the mayonnaise can be replaced with yogurt, which cuts the calories.
- Toss the salad so that all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Add the dressing of your choice and toss again. Don't add too much sauce, or the salad will be “swimming” in it. By the way, the dressing should go in right before serving. There is no need to chill the salad – it tastes best freshly mixed, at room temperature.
- We always line the serving plate with leaves of lettuce, arugula and other greens. Put the greens in cold water beforehand, then dry them. Place the krill meat salad on top of the greens – in a mound, or shape it in a pastry ring of a suitable diameter. Sprinkle the salad and greens with egg yolk grated on a fine grater.
| Yield: | 2 servings |
| Calories: | 130 |
| Prep: | 30 mins |
| Cook: | 15 mins |
| Ready in: | 45 mins |
| Category: | Salads |
| Cuisine: | European |
| Rating: |
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5
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