Herring, pickled is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 12 recipes to get you started.

What is herring, pickled?

Pickled herring is Atlantic herring that has been cured in a brine of vinegar, salt, sugar, and spices, which firms the soft oily fish and gives it a tangy, sweet-sour bite. It is sold ready to eat, usually as bite-sized fillet pieces in a jar.

Many jars dress it further in wine, cream, mustard, or onion.

The classic curing starts with salt-packed herring to draw out moisture and preserve the fish, then a sweet-and-sour vinegar marinade does the flavoring. The result is silky and bracing, a staple of Northern and Eastern European cooking from Scandinavia to Poland.

How to Use Pickled Herring

Pickled herring is fully cured, so there is no cooking involved; you build dishes around it instead. The most traditional way is on the smörgåsbord or zakuski table, draped over dark rye or boiled potatoes with a dab of sour cream and raw onion.

Drain it from its brine before serving, and taste first. Some jars are sharply vinegary while others are sweet, and that sets how much extra acid or sugar a salad needs.

Cold salads and platters are where it earns its keep. Sledzie Marynowane is the Polish marinated-herring classic, while Refreshing Herring Salad and Save the Family Herring Platter fold it into composed cold plates. For party food, Herring Canapés with Horseradish Cream and Creamed Herring turn it into spreads and bites.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Herring's oily, acidic intensity wants cool, starchy, sharp partners. Sour cream, dill, raw or pickled onion, boiled potatoes, beets, apple, hard-boiled egg, and dark rye are the timeless companions, and a cold shot of aquavit or a lager is the traditional drink.

The most common mistake is serving it straight from a too-sharp brine. Rinsing briefly or swapping the liquid for fresh sour cream and onion tames a harsh jar and lets the fish show.

The second is treating every jar alike. A sharp wine cure and a mellow matjes (a milder Dutch-style cure) taste worlds apart, so match the style to the dish: matjes for eating plain, the firmer vinegar cure for salads.

Substitutes

The closest swap is rollmops, which are the same pickled herring rolled around onion or pickle, just a different shape.

Other cured oily fish stand in for the brininess: boquerones (vinegar-cured anchovies) bring the same tang at smaller scale, while gravlax or smoked mackerel give you the rich oily fish without the sour pickle.

For a milder result, matjes herring is gentler and sweeter. There is no real vegetarian match for the flavor, but marinated mushrooms or brined artichokes can play a similar bright, acidic role on a cold platter.

Buying and Storing Pickled Herring

Buy it refrigerated and check that the fish pieces look plump and intact rather than mushy or broken down, sitting in clear (not cloudy or slimy) brine. Wine and dill cures are the easiest starting point; cream and mustard sauces are richer and more finished.

An unopened jar keeps for weeks to months in the fridge up to its printed date, since the acidic brine is a preservative.

Once opened, use it within 3 to 4 days for cream-sauced styles and up to a week or two for plain vinegar-cured fish, always kept cold and submerged in its liquid.

Keep the pieces under the brine whenever the jar is in the fridge; exposed herring dries out and picks up off-flavors fast. Pickled herring does not freeze well, since thawing turns the delicate flesh mushy.

Quick facts

In Chinese

鲱鱼，腌制

British (UK) term

Herring, pickled

en français

hareng, marinés

en español

el arenque, el escabeche

Recipes using herring, pickled

There are 12 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 12 recipes