Smoked Fish Salad

Name: Smoked Fish Salad with Mackerel, Lettuce and Croutons
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Smoked mackerel 1; Sweet onion 1; Whole grain bread 2 slices; Lettuce 1 bunch; Olive oil 2 tbsp; Black pepper, sugar, wine vinegar to taste

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30 mins

If you’re tired of the traditional herring with onion and potatoes in their jackets, try this smoked fish salad. It’s an easy appetizer that doesn’t take long, and all the ingredients are easy to find and need no special prep. It works as a dish on its own, and with baked potatoes it is simply wonderful: croutons, cold-smoked mackerel and green leaves make a surprising combination.

Historically, smoking was a way to preserve meat, fish and even cheese for a long time. Now that food is easier to keep frozen, smoking is used mostly for flavor, for changing the taste and for reducing moisture. In simple terms, smoking is heat treatment in the presence of smoke, which soaks into the food.

The hot method means fairly intense heat in a closed space with smoldering sawdust. It is a fast process, and the result is soft and moist. Sometimes we cook salmon this way, using a portable smoker. The cold method can take several days. The source of smoke is kept away from the food, so the result is drier and keeps much longer.

Keep in mind that the products of combustion are often not very healthy, so don’t eat smoked food all the time. Modern industry uses liquid smoke, a chemical substance. I don’t know why, but they claim it is less harmful than natural smoking.

To my taste, cold-smoked mackerel is ideal for this salad. It’s a common, affordable fish, sold in any store, and the quality is good.

You can make this smoked fish salad at home with salmon, mackerel or herring that have been cold-smoked. Keep in mind that such fish is saltier, because the carcasses are salted before smoking, and it has more “healthy” fats, though it is also higher in calories. But for an appetizer you need very little. By the way, you can use any fish that has been smoked.

6 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Oven-Baked Fish with Vegetables (Saury Recipe)

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Stuffed Mackerel with Tomatoes, Onion and Potatoes

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Grilled Mackerel

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Ingredients

2 servings

Smoked mackerel 1
Sweet onion 1
Whole grain bread 2 slices
Lettuce 1 bunch
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Black pepper, sugar, wine vinegar to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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To my taste, the best cold-smoked mackerel is made from a gutted carcass without the head. It’s fatty and aromatic, with few bones, and it cleans very well. Without the innards the meat is a little firmer, which matters for an appetizer, since the pieces hold their shape well. And, most important, the fish must be fresh.
Peel the sweet onion and cut it into thin strips. Put the onion in a bowl, add 0.5 tsp sugar (2 g) and stir. Add 1 tbsp natural wine vinegar. Leave to marinate for 15 mins. If the onion is sliced thin, that’s enough.
A few slices of whole grain bread are perfect for croutons. You can also make the croutons for the Italian bread salad panzanella from this bread. Cut the bread into slices 2-2.5 cm thick and trim off the crust. Cut the bread into cubes and fry in a dry pan until a crust forms but the middle stays soft. The croutons should cool to room temperature.
Wash and dry a head of lettuce or something similar whose leaves aren’t bitter. The leaves should be fresh and crisp. You can soak them in cold water for a few hours beforehand to make them crisper. Then dry them well. Tear the leaves into pieces with your fingers and put them in a bowl. Don’t cut them with a knife, or the salad will be too wet.
The smoked mackerel needs to be cleaned thoroughly. Cut off the fillets, and remove the backbone and all the rib bones. Be sure to cut off what is left of the fins, as they hold a lot of tiny bones. There are many in the tail too. Remove the skin from the fillets and cut the flesh into strips 1-1.5 cm wide across the fish.
Add the sliced fish and croutons to the torn lettuce. Gently squeeze out the marinated onion, keeping 1 tsp of the liquid. Add the onion to the salad bowl. Season the salad generously with freshly ground black pepper. Toss gently so you don’t break the fish slices. In a cup, mix 2 tbsp olive oil with 1 tsp of the onion marinade or wine vinegar and whisk. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss.
Divide the smoked fish salad among prepared plates. The leaves and fish pieces usually don’t mix evenly, so put all the fish and croutons that have settled in the bowl on top of each portion. Serve the salad as an appetizer at room temperature. Baked potatoes go with it very well.