Finnish Salmon Soup – Lohikeitto
This traditional Finnish soup is simple yet flavorful.
- Prep Time10 min
- Cook Time20 min
- Total Time30 min
- Serving Size6 People
Ingredients
- 6-8 Cups of Fish or Chicken Stock
- 2 Carrots
- 2 Potatoes
- 1 Onion
- 1/2 - 1 LB Salmon
- 2 tsp Pepper
- 1 Cup Half and Half
- .5 oz Fresh Dill (about 1/2 C), or 2 TBS dried Dill
- Salt to taste
Method
Prepare the carrots by peeling them and cubing them into bite sized pieces.
Wash the potatoes and cube them into bites sized pieces, leaving the skins on.
Cube the onions and set aside with the carrots and potatoes.
In a pot, add the fish or chicken stock, carrots, potatoes, and onions. Add in the dill. If using fresh, use half the amount by pinching off the leaves and placing them into the pot. If using dried, use all 2 TBS. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Meanwhile, take the salmon and cube into bite sized pieces. Then measure out a cup of half and half and set aside.
Once the potatoes are softened, add the salmon and cook for until the salmon is done, this should only take 2-3 minutes.
Finally, add in the half and half and add salt to taste. When ready to serve, top the individual bowls with the remaining fresh dill by pinching off the smaller branches, and discarding the stalks.
We love this soup with sourdough buttered toast and a light salad.
Welcome to Finland! I’ve recently been very interested in this rather small country. It seems like the people there, even in this modern climate, have managed to stick close to nature, as well as enjoy the small pleasures in life. I’ve really come to love learning about their education system, their climate and how they survive through long and dark winters. I love their “sisu”(pronounced see-soo), or as we in the states would think of it, their grit and ability to overcome, their belief in their ability to do, and the optimism against the odds. I love Finland’s desire to help one another and how they find being frugal and doing things yourself as important. They ride their bikes in the snow, swim in icy waters, relax in a sauna, and they smile while they do it. Here is one recipe that I’ve really grown to love. It’s simple yet flavorful, which again, seems to be very Finnish.
Let's talk about stock baby, let's talk about you and me.
Before we get started making this amazingly simple dish, let’s get into your “stock options”…Funny, I know. Seriously though, usually I am not a big stickler on what stock you use, and I’m even not opposed to using water in some applications. But with this soup it makes a huge difference and even changes the flavor based on the stock you use. My absolute favorite stock for this soup is shrimp based.
It creates a briny, very from the sea flavor that I love. I feel like I live on the coast when I use shrimp stock, which for me, is a very romantic feeling. Not like, let’s get it on romantic, but like whimsical and full of nostalgic feelings. Ya know what I’m sayin’ here? It creates a feeling that I live in main and that I, “live my life as a lobsterman’s wife on an Island in the Blue Bay…”. So, if you want to taste that feeling, use shrimp stock and make it yourself.
It’s seriously so stinking simple to make your own shrimp stock, and the flavor is amazing. What I love to do is go buy a few shrimps with their heads still attached, I’m talking like 6 or 7 shrimp. When you prepare them, just twist their heads off and put the heads (and tails if you have them), in a crock pot. Fill it up with a 6 cups of water, add in an onion, a few garlic cloves, and a celery stalk. Turn it on high and let it cook for at least 3 hours, but up to 8. You want it on high because you want it to slightly boil. PRO TIP: Plug in your slow cooker outside to cook your shrimp stock. Shrimp stock tastes delicious but smells horrific. Save your home and your clothes and cook it in your garage or porch. Trust me on this one, you won’t be sorry.
If you use chicken stock instead, that’s fine too, it’s just going to take you from sea to land. It will still be amazing, heart lifting and belly warming. Either way, you won’t regret making this soup. It is probably to most simple soup I have ever made in my life. Not joking. It’s only got a few ingredients and the fish cooks in 2-3 minutes. The great thing too is that you don’t just have to use salmon. Salmon happens to be the
traditional Finnish ingredient, but I’ve made this with Talapia, Cod and Wild Haki. They are all white fish and they were all delicious. If you want to use salmon, but you don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for pre-packaged aka larger amounts than needed portions, then go to the butcher section of your grocery store and have them wrap up the exact amount needed for this dish. You need at most 1 lb, but I’ve even used 1/2 a lb and been very satisfied with the amount of salmon in each bite. Make it work for you and your budget and be proud of yourself for eating such good food.
It's dinner time!
Ok seriously, you’re going to be amazed and happy at how fast this soup comes together. First, take your carrots, onion and potatoes and cube them into bite sized pieces. Then take your stock and add it to a pot. Bring the pot to a boil and add in your chopped carrots, onion and potatoes. So far so good right? You’re basically halfway there, just sayin’.
Next, it’s time to add in your black pepper and dill. I recommend fresh dill if you have it. It just has this amazing sour flavor that is very subtle but pleasant. You for sure can still use dried dill but be warned, you won’t get as good of a punch from the dill if it’s dried, but you will still get that lovely dill flavor so no worries. What I like to do at this point with the dill if I’m using fresh dill, is to use my fingers to pick the dill apart and throw it into the pot. I use half of the amount that I have so that I can put fresh dill on top of the bowls when I serve them. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, you can just throw it all in there if that’s your thing. You can also use a knife to cut up the dill, but I like having larger pieces, and I feel like it’s easier to just pull them apart. If you’re using dried, put the entire 2 TBS in at this point.
While your potatoes and carrots are softening, cube up that beautiful salmon into bite sized pieces. The portion in the photo above is actually a 1/2 lb, which is the least amount of salmon I would use. It is a great amount for this dish, but if you want a bit for fish then spring for 1 lb. Anymore than that and you may get salmon overload.
Check the potatoes and carrots by poking them with a fork. Once they are soft, about 10-15 minutes, add in the salmon. Let the salmon cook until they are light pink. This should only take a few minutes and it’s kind of fun to watch the transformation.
Once the salmon is cooked, add in the half and half. You can also add cream if you want it to be a bit more buttery, but I find that half and half is just the right balance for me and my family. Turn off the heat.
Taste the soup and add as much salt as needed until all the flavors come out.
This is a very brothy soup. I don’t use a thickener at all, it’s supposed to be thin yet flavorful. Serve with whatever sides sound good to you. We love serving this with toasted and buttered sourdough bread and a side salad. Enjoy!
