Chef Klaus
Backfisch mit Kartoffelsalat
Backfisch works when the batter is cold, the fish is dry, and the oil is steady. Miss one of those and you get a wet coat, not a crisp one.
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Brathering
Created by
The northern coastal herring that works twice: fried first for a firm skin and deep flavour, then laid down in vinegar until onion, spice, and sourness do the rest.
Main Dishes
German
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
35 min
Active Time
25 min cook•P2DT1H total
Yield4 servings
Brathering belongs to the northern table, North Sea and Baltic, where herring was never just fish for tonight. It was food for the next days too. You flour it, fry it, and lay it in vinegar with onions, bay, mustard seed, and pepper until the sharpness has gone through the flesh. Cold with rye bread or boiled potatoes, it makes a weeknight meal from the larder. Das braucht seine Zeit.
The split is simple. On the coast, the fish stays plain and sharp, often whole, bones and all if the herrings are small enough. Inland cooks sweeten the liquor more, or add more spice because the fish has travelled and needs help. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. I keep this one northern: sour enough to wake the fish, sweet enough not to punish you.
The technique that decides it is the frying. The herring must be dry, floured thinly, and browned properly before it sees the vinegar. If the coating is damp or pale, the marinade turns it woolly and sad. Fry it until the skin is firm and golden, then pour the hot spiced vinegar over the warm fish so the pores open and the sour liquor gets in. Nicht aus dem Glas. Make the fish, make the pickle, wait two days.
Brathering grew out of the North Sea and Baltic herring trade that fed the Hanseatic towns from the Middle Ages onward; herring was cheap, abundant, and easy to preserve with salt, smoke, or vinegar. Frying the fresh fish before pickling gave coastal households a short-term larder dish before modern refrigeration, different from barrel-salted Matjes or Bismarckhering. The dish remains strongest in northern Germany, where cold sour fish with potatoes or dark rye is everyday food, not festival theatre.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small fresh herrings
Quantity
8
gutted and scaled, heads removed if preferred
fine salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
rye flour or plain flour
Quantity
80g
neutral oil or clarified butter
Quantity
4 tablespoons
for frying
onions
Quantity
3 medium
sliced into thin rings
white wine vinegar or mild spirit vinegar
Quantity
350ml
water
Quantity
350ml
sugar
Quantity
2 tablespoons
yellow mustard seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon
black peppercorns
Quantity
8
allspice berries
Quantity
4
bay leaves
Quantity
2
lemon peel (optional)
Quantity
1 small strip
boiled potatoes or dark rye bread
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small fresh herringsgutted and scaled, heads removed if preferred | 8 |
| fine salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| black pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| rye flour or plain flour | 80g |
| neutral oil or clarified butterfor frying | 4 tablespoons |
| onionssliced into thin rings | 3 medium |
| white wine vinegar or mild spirit vinegar | 350ml |
| water | 350ml |
| sugar | 2 tablespoons |
| yellow mustard seeds | 1 teaspoon |
| black peppercorns | 8 |
| allspice berries | 4 |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| lemon peel (optional) | 1 small strip |
| boiled potatoes or dark rye bread | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide frying pan
- •Non-reactive shallow dish with lid
- •Small saucepan
- •Fish spatula
Instructions
- 1
Clean the fish
Rinse the gutted herrings quickly under cold water and dry them thoroughly inside and out. Dry fish browns; wet fish spits in the pan and leaves you with a pale skin that goes soft in the vinegar. Season the cavities and skins with the teaspoon of salt and a little black pepper, then leave them on a rack for 15 minutes while you make the pickle.
- 2
Cook the pickle
Put the onions, vinegar, water, sugar, mustard seeds, peppercorns, allspice, bay leaves, and lemon peel into a saucepan and bring it to a steady boil for 5 minutes. The onions need that short cooking so they lose the raw bite but keep their shape, and the spices need heat to give the vinegar something better than plain sourness. Taste it while it is hot: sharp first, then a small sweetness behind it.
Use glass, ceramic, or stainless steel for the fish and marinade. Vinegar pulls a dull metal taste from aluminium, and then the whole dish tastes of the wrong pot. - 3
Flour thinly
Spread the flour on a plate and turn each herring through it, shaking off every loose patch. You want a thin dry coat, not a blanket. Too much flour breaks away in the pickle and muddies the liquor; just enough flour gives the skin a firm surface for the vinegar to work against.
- 4
Fry until golden
Heat the oil or clarified butter in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the herrings in batches, 3 to 4 minutes per side, until the skin is golden, firm, and the fish is cooked through to the bone. Do not crowd the pan, because crowded fish drops the heat and sweats instead of frying. Runter mit der Temperatur only if the flour darkens before the fish is cooked; the coating should brown, not burn.
- 5
Cover with pickle
Lay the warm fried herrings in a shallow non-reactive dish, fitting them snugly but not crushing them. Pour the hot vinegar and onions over the warm fish until everything is covered. Warm fish takes the sour liquor better than cold fish, and fully covered fish keeps evenly and safely. If the top fish is exposed, weight it lightly with a small plate.
- 6
Rest two days
Cool the dish to room temperature, cover it, and refrigerate it for at least 24 hours, better 48. The vinegar needs time to move through the fried flesh, soften the small bones, and settle the onion into the fish. Serve cold or cool, never hot, with boiled potatoes or dark rye bread and some of the onions spooned over. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss: taste the liquor before serving and add a pinch of salt only if it needs it.
Chef Tips
- •Buy the freshest small herrings you can, with clear eyes and a clean sea smell. Bigger fish are fine, but the bones stay more noticeable, so ask the fishmonger to butterfly them if your table doesn't want to work around them.
- •Rye flour is good here because its light sourness belongs with the vinegar and fish. Plain flour works, but do not use a thick batter. This is Brathering, not fairground fish.
- •Keep the fried fish fully covered by the marinade in the refrigerator and eat it within 4 days. This is a short larder pickle, not a shelf-stable preserve.
Advance Preparation
- •Make Brathering 2 days before you want to eat it. One day gives you fried fish in vinegar; two days gives you Brathering.
- •Boil the potatoes the day before if you like and serve them cold or gently rewarmed. The fish stays cold, the potatoes carry it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
515 calories
Total Fat
29 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
115 mg
Sodium
800 mg
Total Carbohydrates
27 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
34 g
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