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Salad with Potatoes and Herring
The herring and potato salad is genuinely great for both everyday family meals and properly festive celebration tables. The addition of fresh crisp apple gives this beautifully traditional Soviet-era salad an unexpected freshness and originality compared to the more familiar versions seen in cookbooks. The combination of salty rich herring with the earthy potatoes and the bright fresh apple produces a properly balanced finished flavour profile that pleases nearly everyone at the family table.
The whole recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish (mostly for boiling the potatoes), which makes this an excellent make-ahead salad option for prepping in advance of a special occasion. The recipe yields 4 generous servings, perfect for feeding a small family or for portioning out as a refreshing side for a holiday spread. The salad benefits significantly from a couple of hours of fridge time before serving for the most properly developed finished flavour.
Preparation time: 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Show ingredients
- lightly salted herring - 1 piece (300 g);
- potatoes - 3 pieces (370 g);
- carrot - 1 piece (115 g);
- apple - 1 piece (140 g);
- parsley - 3 sprigs;
- garlic - 1-2 cloves (3 g);
- curry - on the tip of a knife;
- olive oil - 50 ml;
- olives or capers - 1 tbsp (50 g);
- salt;
- lemon juice - 1 tsp.
- black ground pepper;
- green onion - 2 sprigs.
Preparation
- Prepare the products for making the herring and potato salad on a clean work surface.
- After washing the herring thoroughly under cold water, pat it dry with paper napkins. Cut off the head, and make incisions with a sharp knife along the fish's back and belly. Remove the insides along with the dark skin inside the belly. Peel the skin off the herring carcass, starting from the head end. Cut the herring lengthwise into 2 pieces. Remove the backbone and the ribs, separating them with your fingers from the flesh carefully. Then remove any remaining small bones from the fillet. As a result, you have 2 clean fillets ready for slicing.
- Cut the cleaned fillet into pieces about 8 millimetres wide for the most uniform finished texture.
- Peel the fresh carrot and cut it into small even cubes ready for sautéing.
- Sauté the diced carrot cubes briefly in olive oil or another vegetable oil over medium heat until properly soft and tender.
- Boil the potatoes (without peeling first) in water or bake them in the oven until completely cooked through. Wait for them to cool properly, then peel the potatoes. Cut each peeled tuber in half lengthwise, and then slice into smaller pieces. Try to keep the potato slice size approximately similar to the herring pieces for the most uniform finished texture in the bowl.
- Combine the sliced herring with the prepared potatoes in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the sautéed carrots to the bowl with the herring and potatoes.
- Peel the apple, remove the seeds and the tough core segments. Then cut it into thin wedges. Drizzle the cut apple slices with fresh lemon juice to prevent any unwanted darkening from oxidation.
- Add the prepared apple slices to the other ingredients in the bowl.
- Chop the fresh parsley leaves and the green onion feathers finely with a sharp knife. Add the chopped fresh greens to the salad bowl.
- Crush the garlic cloves in a small mortar or grate them on a fine grater. Pour the olive oil into the crushed garlic and mash everything together with a small whisk. Add the curry powder and mix gently together. The aromatic sauce is now ready.
- Add the olives, salt, freshly ground pepper, and the prepared aromatic sauce to the salad bowl. Mix everything together gently with a wooden spoon.
- The herring and potato salad is now properly ready. Let the salad infuse in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving. Thus, having absorbed all the aromatic garlic sauce, the salad will become noticeably tastier. Bon appetit!
Tips and Tricks
Tip 1. Boil the potatoes in their skins for the most beautifully concentrated finished potato flavour and the best finished texture, since unpeeled boiling prevents excess water absorption that would dilute the natural potato flavour. The brief extra step of peeling after boiling rather than before genuinely matters for the most beautifully flavourful finished salad every single time. Let the boiled potatoes cool completely before peeling and slicing for the easiest handling.
Tip 2. Drizzle the cut apple slices with fresh lemon juice immediately after slicing, since this brief step prevents the unattractive browning from oxidation that would ruin the bright fresh finished appearance of the salad. To pair this beautifully traditional Soviet-era fish salad with another properly classic homemade fish preparation for a complete fish-themed dinner menu, try our beautifully bright herring with potatoes and onions as a contrasting warm fish dish.
Tip 3. Let the assembled salad infuse in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving for the most beautifully developed finished flavour, since the brief chilling time lets all the components properly meld together with the aromatic garlic-curry sauce. The brief patience genuinely matters for the most properly delicious finished result every single time. Make the salad in the morning for a special dinner that same evening for the best timing.
Tip 4. Garnish the finished salad with fresh chopped herbs, lemon wedges and extra olives for the most beautifully presented finished appearance at the celebration table. For another properly classic homemade Soviet-era salad recipe to add variety to your weekly menu, try our beautifully tender beet salad with prunes and walnuts as a contrasting sweet-and-earthy layered alternative for properly festive holiday spreads.
FAQ
Can I use canned tuna instead of herring?
Yes, good-quality canned tuna in oil works as a reasonable substitute for the lightly salted herring in this recipe, although the finished flavour profile will be noticeably different. Tuna produces a milder less assertive finished flavour, while herring brings a properly briny rich character that defines the traditional Soviet-era version of this salad. Other oily fish like sardines, mackerel or even smoked salmon also work as alternatives for properly different finished flavour profiles. Adjust the salt content of the salad based on the saltiness of your chosen fish.
What kind of apple works best?
Crisp tart apples like Granny Smith, Bramley, Antonovka or even a firm Pink Lady work absolutely brilliantly in this salad, since the natural acidity balances the rich salty herring beautifully. Avoid soft sweet apples like Red Delicious or Gala, which become mushy and lack the proper acidic contrast needed to brighten the rich finished flavour profile. The brief search for the right tart firm apple at the market genuinely matters for the most beautifully balanced finished salad every single time at the family table.
How long does this salad keep?
Store the assembled herring and potato salad covered tightly in the refrigerator for up to two days for best results. The flavours actually improve significantly during the first 24 hours as all the components properly meld with the garlic-curry sauce. After two days, the texture becomes noticeably softer as the components continue to break down, but the salad still tastes beautifully delicious. The salad does not freeze well, since freezing destroys the texture of the potatoes and apples entirely.
Can I add other vegetables to this salad?
Absolutely. Try adding chopped boiled egg, finely diced pickled cucumber, sliced fresh radish, chopped boiled beetroot, finely chopped fresh dill, or even a small spoonful of capers alongside the olives for properly different finished flavour profiles. Each addition brings its own character to the bowl. Avoid adding too many additions at once, since this can produce a muddled finished result that lacks any clear flavour identity. Two or three thoughtful additions alongside the core herring-potato base produce the best finished result.
