Pan-fried green herring

Ingredients

• 4 to 6 green herring, scaled and gutted
• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp clarified butter
• 1 lemon
• ½ bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt, pepper

Method

1. Scale the herring if necessary, gut them and cut off the heads. Rinse them briefly inside and out.
2. Pat the herring thoroughly dry. The skin must be dry, otherwise it will not get crispy in the pan.
3. Drizzle them with a little lemon juice and season them inside and out with salt and pepper.
4. Turn the herring in the flour and tap off any excess.
5. Heat the clarified butter in a large frying pan. Lay the herring in side by side without them touching.
6. Fry them over a medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until the skin is golden brown and crispy.
7. Doneness test: along the back, the flesh comes away easily from the backbone and is no longer glassy.
8. Let the herring drain briefly on kitchen paper, sprinkle parsley over them and serve them with lemon wedges.

Tips

• Classic sides: fried potatoes with bacon or potato salad.
• Boning before frying: cut the belly fully open, lay the herring opened out skin side up, press firmly along the back and pull out the backbone, starting from the tail.
• A light mustard sauce, which is popular on the Baltic coast, also goes well with them.

Atlantic herring: profile