I don't know how many times I mentioned this, but going to the supermarket is the best way to know what the locals do (and eat). I schemed through the seafood aisle in attempt to find surströmming (fermented herring), but I couldn't find it. Instead I found this:
I'm starting to get used to buying things I don't know what they are because of language barrier. I know strömming means "herring".
So, what is stekt strömming?
It is a deep fried herring breaded in rye flour coating, and then pickled. In Sweden, according to my professor, pickling involves a lot of sugar, so most pickles in Sweden is rather sweet. The ingredients to pickle this herring is water, sugar, onion, vinegar and salt.
Taste? Hmm, it's quite complicated. I can't say I really like it, but at the same time this was a new flavour and texture to me. I'm used to eating fish marinated in sweet sauce because in Indonesia we grill fish with sweet soy sauce. I think the stekt strömming was a little bit too sweet for me.
By the way, if you are interested to try this and you are not in Sweden, I found a recipe to make this at home in this link.
