Senapssill (Swedish mustard herring)
15 min · 11 g protein · 158 cals / serving
Firm pieces of herring in a thick, golden mustard sauce, sweet and sharp at once and full of fresh dill: the herring most people reach for first on the julbord. The sauce here is built on kvarg with both Swedish and Dijon mustard instead of a cup of oil, so it clings to every piece and still tastes just like grandmother's.
Ingredients
- 14 oz salted herring, desalted, canned, inläggningssill (urvattnad saltsill) fillets, patted dry
Mustard sauce
- 3/4 cup quark
- 3 tbsp swedish mustard, sweet Swedish mustard
- 2 tbsp French mustard, Dijon-style
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp canola oil, cold-pressed if you like
- a few grinds black pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
Steps
- Cut the herring fillets across into 3/4 inch pieces and pat them dry with paper towels so the sauce does not thin out.
- Whisk the kvarg, both mustards, sugar and vinegar until smooth, then whisk in the oil in a thin stream so the sauce turns glossy. Season with pepper.
- Fold in the dill, then the herring. Spoon into a clean jar, cover and let it rest in the fridge for at least 24 hours (two days is better) so the flavors marry. Serve cold with boiled potatoes, crispbread or as part of the julbord.
Good to know
How do I get the firm, classic bite?
Marinate the herring pieces for 2–3 hours in a 1-2-3-lag first (1 part ättika 12 %, 2 parts sugar, 3 parts water, stirred until the sugar dissolves), then drain them well before folding them into the sauce. The lag firms the fish and gives it the familiar pickled tang. Outside Sweden, use 2 parts ordinary 5 % white vinegar and 2 parts water in place of the ättika and water.
Can I use pickled herring from a jar?
Yes. Drain 400 g of inlagd sill well, leave out the sugar (the herring is already sweet) and use half the vinegar. The result is sweeter and a little softer, at a score of about 19 instead of 39.
How long does it keep?
About five days in the fridge in a clean, closed jar. Keep it cold, especially on a julbord that stands out for hours.
Too sharp or too sweet?
Mustards differ a lot. Taste the sauce before adding the herring: a little more sugar rounds a sharp sauce, and more Dijon or vinegar lifts a sweet one.
Per
- Calories
- 172
- Protein
- (29%)
- 12 g
- Fat
- (56%)
- 11 g
- Carbohydrates
- (16%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 5 g
- Fiber
- <1 g
- Sodium
- 563 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1265 kcal goes into the pot and 741 g of ingredients comes out as about 735 g of food: 172 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.