Baked Baltic Herring with Onion under Sour Cream

The breadcrumbs go in twice here — on the bottom of the dish and on top — and the bottom layer matters more. Three hundred grams of sour cream to six hundred grams of small fish give off a lot of liquid, and without crumbs underneath the Baltic herring bakes not in the oven but in its own milky sauce: golden on top, boiled underneath.

The fish is laid backs up. That way the carcasses lie tightly against one another, keep their shape and don't roll belly upwards when the sour cream is poured over — and an open belly on small fish is always the first part to dry out.

Celery root in this recipe isn't a side vegetable but a counterweight to the sour cream. It gives a sharp herbal note that breaks up the solid milky softness — that is why it is cut into cubes and put straight onto the fish, under the layer of sour cream.

Forty minutes under sour cream is one way; the same Baltic herring finished under a sauce in a pan takes ten, in braised Baltic herring with onion and carrot in a pan. Sour cream and cheese laid over dry sea fish rather than small oily fish gives Alaska pollock baked in foil with vegetables and cheese.

Caloric content: 168kcal

Notes

• Oil on the bottom before the crumbs. A dry layer of breadcrumbs sticks to the dish; oil makes it crisp rather than charred.
• The garlic goes on top of the sour cream, not under it. Under sour cream it loses its aroma completely in forty minutes.
• Smooth the layer of sour cream out with a spoon. Fish left uncovered in this recipe dries rather than browns.
• Baltic herring has no small bones. That is why it is baked whole and served to children — there is nothing to pick apart.
• Serve it straight away. The crumbs on top stay crisp for about a quarter of an hour, then they take up moisture from the sour cream.
• Dried dill, not fresh. Fresh dill blackens in the oven in forty minutes.

Questions and Answers

What are the breadcrumbs on the bottom of the dish for?

Three hundred grams of sour cream to six hundred grams of small fish give off a lot of liquid. Without crumbs underneath, the Baltic herring bakes in its own milky sauce: golden on top, boiled underneath.

Why is the fish laid backs up?

That way the carcasses lie tightly against one another, keep their shape and don't roll belly upwards under the sour cream — and an open belly on small fish is the first part to dry out.

What is the celery root for here?

As a counterweight to the sour cream. It gives a sharp herbal note that breaks up the solid milky softness, which is why it is put straight onto the fish, under the layer of sour cream.

Does Baltic herring have small bones?

No, which is why it is baked whole and served to children — there is nothing to pick apart.

Recipe and step-by-step photos — kolizhanka.net.ua.