Lohikeitto – Finnish salmon soup

Last week I was busy maintaining my Instagram account and browsing around a bit. A bit sleepy and at least as hungry I ended up on the account of Kerstin’s Myculinarybackpack, who posted a picture of this fish soup from Finland.

Browsing hungry pictures is never a good idea, but in this case, I was hooked on cooking my own food. Actually, such a fish soup is more suitable in winter, but this soup tastes great in summer – even cold.

Now I realized that like most traditional dishes, every household has its own recipe. There are versions with and without fish stock, and since I didn’t have any, I simply replace it with vegetable stock in this recipe. The result speaks for itself. The recipe is suitable for 4 people. Have fun with the recipes.

Preparation of the salmon soup

1. First wash and peel the carrots and potatoes and cut them into pieces or slices about 1cm in size. Clean the leeks and cut them into thin rings as well.

2. Heat the butter in a deep pot and steam the leek until it is glassy. Then add the potato and carrot cubes and fry for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the bay leaf and a slice of lemon and pour on the vegetable stock. The lemon slice will later add a mild acidity to the soup. Let everything simmer at medium heat for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are almost done.

4. In the meantime, wash and chop the dill and salmon, or cut them into 1cm pieces.

5. As soon as the potatoes are almost done, take the lemon slice and the bay leaf out of the pot and add the cream. Let everything simmer again briefly.

6. Once the potatoes and carrots are cooked, you can turn the heat down to a minimum. Add the salmon and some of the dill to the soup and let the salmon steep for about 2-3 more minutes until it turns light pink. You don’t need a lot of heat for this, because otherwise the salmon would just fall apart. Arrange everything together with bread and enjoy.

Lohikeitto – My conclusion on salmon soup from Finland

That was quick and yet really easy, wasn’t it? I will certainly cook this fish soup from Scandinavia one or two more times. You only need a few ingredients and the result tastes both hot and cold the next day. But you don’t have to take the latter as a reference – I also really like cold noodles.

All in all, this soup from Finland doesn’t taste very fishy, but rather creamy-mild due to the cream. That could also inspire the one or the other fish muffle to try it.

What do you think of this recipe? Is fish in the soup a Go or a No-Go? Feel free to write your feedback and your ideas about the soup kitchen in the comments. I look forward to it.

If you are looking for more recipes from Europe and the world, you should have a look here:

• Mosterdsoep – The dutch mustard soup
• Gumbo – The stew from the southern states
• Dinnete from the Schwabenländle – The somewhat different Pizza
• Mercimek Corbasi – Lentil soup from Turkey
• Cornish Pasties – A hearty finger food for miners
• Portuguese Francesinha – A juicy sinful sandwich
• Paprika Töltött – Delicious stuffed peppers from Hungary
• Alfajores – The traditional pastry from Uruguay