Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains
Silakkapihvit (Finnish Baltic herring patties)
Two small silver fillets of Baltic herring sandwiched around a fistful of dill and chives, rolled in rye crumbs and fried golden in butter. The everyday fish dish of Finland's coast, served with soft mashed potatoes and pickled beetroot. A little less butter than usual still gives a golden crust over a steady medium heat.
- Time
- 50 min (25 prep + 25 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 475 kcal
- Protein
- 33 g
Ingredients
Mashed potatoes
- 1 3/4 lb potato, floury, peeled, in chunks
Patties
- 1 1/3 lb raw baltic herring, butterflied Baltic herring fillets (silakkafileet), patted dry
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
- 1/3 cup chopped fresh chives
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, whole grain, fine rye or wholegrain breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp butter, for frying
Mashed potatoes
- 1/2 cup semi-skimmed milk, 1.5% fat, fortified, hot
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/3 tsp salt
To serve
- 1 cup sliced pickled beetroot, drained
Steps
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for 18–20 minutes until completely soft.
- Meanwhile snip any fins off the herring with scissors. Lay half the fillets skin side down on a board and season them with the salt and pepper.
- Scatter the dill and chives over the seasoned fillets, press a second fillet on top of each, skin side up, and roll the patties in the breadcrumbs so they are evenly coated.
- Melt half the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat and fry half the patties for 3–4 minutes a side, until golden and the fish flakes at the centre (145°F). Wipe the pan and repeat with the rest of the butter and patties.
- Drain the potatoes well and mash them with the hot milk, butter and salt until smooth.
- Serve the patties straight away with the mash and pickled beetroot.
Good to know
Can I bake them?
Yes. Lay the patties on a lined tray, brush lightly with oil, sprinkle over the crumbs and bake at 440°F for about 15 minutes, until they reach 145°F. They are less crisp than fried ones but easy for a crowd.
No Baltic herring where you live?
Small fresh herring or sardine fillets work the same way; adjust the frying time to their size. Larger Atlantic herring is much richer, and one fillet per side is plenty.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 117
- Protein
- (28%)
- 8 g
- Fat
- (32%)
- 4 g
- Carbohydrates
- (40%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 240 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1899 kcal goes into the pot and 1781 g of ingredients comes out as about 1620 g of food: 117 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.