Herring Under A Fur Coat salad
This is one of the traditional Russian salads. You will find this salad on almost every table in Russia for New Years celebration. The salad does take a bit of time to prepare and requires quiet a bit of mayonnaise, but it is definitely worth it.
Servings: 10 portions
Calories: 372kcal
Equipment
- Large pot
- Medium pot
- 3 x large mixing bowls
- 3 x medium mixing bowls
- Glass bowl or a deep plate for assembling the salad layers
Ingredients
- 500 grams (3 medium) beetroot
- 500 grams (4 medium) potatoes
- 300 grams (5 medium) carrots
- 400 grams salted herring
- 1 large onion
- 5 large eggs
- 500 ml mayonnaise (I used 50% fat mayonnaise)
- salt, to taste
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Cook the vegetables and eggs:
- Wash the potatoes, carrots and beetroot. Do not peel them. Note: not peeling the vegetables, will keep them in shape while boiling, so they will not fall apart.Place carrots and potatoes in a medium pot and beetroot in a large pot. Fill both pots with water, and bring to boil on medium - high heat.Cook for about 20 - 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are completely cooked. Carrots and potatoes will most likely cook faster than beetroot.Drain the water and allow them to cool, completely, or until the are cool enough to handle.Peel the carrots and potatoes.
- Boil the eggs. They need to be cooked through. Usually it should take between 7-9 minutes of boiling time. Cool the eggs and peel them.
Shred and chop the ingredients:
- Once the vegetables are peeled, shred them into separate bowls on a large shredder. (Potatoes in one bowl, carrots in another and beetroot in third.)
- Peel and chop the onion, as small as you can, or use an electric blender. You can also shred the onion if you wish. Place in a separate bowl.
- Cut the herring into small cubes. If the herring is a whole fish, debone it first. Place in a separate bowl.
- Remove the cooked yolks from 2 eggs and shred them, on a small shredder, into a separate bowl. This will be used as a decoration layer. Set aside till needed.
- Shred the 3 whole eggs and the 2 egg whites on a large shredder and place in a separate bowl.
- So now you should have 7 bowls with shredded and chopped ingredients (beetroot, carrots, potatoes, eggs, herring, onion and egg yolks.)
- Season beetroot carrots, onions, eggs and potatoes with salt and pepper. Taste. Add more salt or pepper if needed. Season the salted herring with pepper.Add mayonnaise to carrots, potatoes, herring, onions, beetroot and eggs. Everything should be well covered with mayonnaise. For me it took a whole 500 ml jar of mayo, that is without the extra mayo layer on top.
Assemble the salad layers:
- To assemble the layers, take the serving bowl that you prepared.Place a layer of potatoes on the bottom. Even it out.On top place a layer of herring. Even out.Next a layer of onions. Even out.Then a layer of carrots. Even out.Next a layer of eggs. Even out.Top that with beetroot. Even out.Next you can make an extra layer of mayonnaise on top of beetroot, but that is optional. For me it's a bit too much mayo.
- And to decorate, sprinkle the shredded egg yolk on top.
- Cover with plastic food wrap and place in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. Can also be eaten right away, but will be more uniform after it spends a bit of time in the fridge.Enjoy!