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Toast Skagen on sourdough.

Toast Skagen, a classic Swedish smörgås.  Made in the traditional manner per Leif Mannerström, with lovely fresh cooked prawns tossed in a creamy dill sauce.

Course Brunch, Lunch, Seafood
Cuisine Swedish
Prep Time 15 minutes
Assembly Time 15 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author Adapted from Leif Mannerström's Skagenröra recipe.

Ingredients

Skagen Mix

  • 2 pounds (900 g) Fresh (or frozen and thawed) prawn or shrimp, cooked and peeled. (See note 1)
  • 2/3 cup (160 ml) of good quality mayonnaise. (See note 2)
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) crème fraîche/cream fresh. (See note 3)
  • 1 teaspoon (1 tsk) Dijon mustard.
  • 1/2 medium Spanish (red) onion, finely minced.
  • 1/4 cup (.6 dl) Chives, finely sniped.
  • 1 large bunch Fresh dill, picked and snipped (no stems).
  • Salt and white pepper, to taste.

Toast Skagen

  • Skagen Mix (from above)
  • Butter (Optional), as needed.
  • 4 slices (large) Soourdough bread, toasted and buttered.
  • 1 head Lettuce, Curly, Bib, Romane or other, washed and spin dried.
  • 4 tbsp Trout, salmon or flying fish caviar. (See note 4)
  • Dill tips for garnish.
  • 1 cup (2.4 dl) OPTIONAL-Pickled red onions, well drained.

Instructions

Skagen Mix

  1. Begin by placing the mayo and crème fraîche in a bowl. Next, add the minced red onion (see note 5) and snipped chives along with the Dijon mustard and hand mix thoroughly. At this point I taste for seasoning and add white pepper and salt as needed. However, go lightly with the salt as the shrimp will add some saltiness.

  2. Now, fold in the snipped dill combining so as not to break down the dill.

  3. The final step of mixing the Skagen is to add your shrimp and fold until combined. Your Skagen Mix is now ready for the smörgås.

Toast Skagen Assembly

  1. Toast and butter your sourdough bread.  (You can omit the butter if you wish.)  Let the bread reach room temperature.

  2. Once the toast is cooled and buttered (or not), place a nice sized piece of lettuce of choice on the bread.

  3. Now, place a quarter of the Skagen Mix neatly on top of the lettuce and bread.

  4. Garnish with dill tips, and top with your fish caviar of choice.

Optional Step

  1. For a nice tang and crunch, place some well drained "beet pickled onions" on top (or as a condiment).

Recipe Notes

Please note that the quantities can be changed by entering the amount you wish in the quantity indicator.  However, the metric will not change. 

Recipe Notes:

  1. Use the highest quality prawns/shrimp you can find and afford.  Here we use cooked “Greenlandic” wild caught prawns.  For North America, I’d recommend Oregon bay or salad shrimp.  Down-under, a small bay prawn should work great.  As a matter of fact, any cooked and peeled shrimp/prawn your conscious lets you buy should be fine.  But, if they are on the larger side, cut them into smaller pieces.

  2. Please refrain from using American “Miracle Whip” spread as it’s way too sweet for this.  Homemade mayo is the best, but who has time for that.  So, find a really good brand of your choice. 

  3. Should you be unable to source crème fraîche, in a pinch you could use sour cream or yogurt, but it will be a bit tangy.

  4. Here in Sweden we would garnish with regnbågsrom or cured Rainbow trout eggs.  In areas where Asian stores are found, one can substitute with Ikura (Salmon Eggs) or Tobiko (flying fish roe).  Don’t like roe, leave it off.

  5. As for the minced red onion, taste and don’t use too much as they can over power the dish.  If serving pickled red onion as a condiment you can omit the minced red onions in the Skagen Mix.