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.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Stralsunder Fischertopf
Created by
The Baltic fish pot from Stralsund lives on a clean stock, floury potatoes, sour gherkin, and dill, with mustard and cream added late so the broth stays bright.
Soups & Stews
German
Weeknight
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
50 min cook•1 hr 15 min total
Yield4 servings
Stralsunder Fischertopf belongs to the Baltic coast around Stralsund and Rügen, where fish, potato, dill, and sour cucumber make a pot that can feed a Friday table or a weeknight supper without pretending to be a feast roast. The fresh fish gives the dish its season, best when the counter has firm white fillets, but the potatoes and gherkins are the winter larder doing their old work. A northern kitchen knows how to stretch good fish without burying it.
Every coast town has an argument. In Mecklenburg and Vorpommern I expect dill, mustard, potato, and a little cucumber brine; farther west the North Sea pot may lean clearer or smokier, and inland the fish often turns to pikeperch or carp with less cream. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders, and the south has its trout and carp pots, not this bowl.
The technique is simple and strict: finish the broth before the fish goes in. Potatoes simmer until their edges soften and give body, then the mustard and cream go in below a hard boil, and only then does the fish meet the pot. Boil the fillets and you tighten them into flakes of dry chalk while the cream roughens. Runter mit der Temperatur. A trembling broth cooks fish cleaner than a rolling one.
If the fishmonger gives you bones and trim, make the quick stock. Weggeworfen wird nichts. The gherkin brine is seasoning, not decoration, and the dill goes in last because green herbs lose their point when you bully them. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.
Stralsund received Lübeck town law in 1234 and was a Hanseatic city by 1293; its harbour on the Strelasund, opposite Rügen, tied it to Baltic herring, cod, salting, and smoking for the towns behind the coast. The potato and sour cucumber are later larder companions, common in northern pots by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when stored roots and preserved vegetables stretched fresh fish into a family meal. Mecklenburg and Vorpommern keep dill, mustard, cucumber brine, and rye close to the bowl, while inland versions often move toward freshwater fish and a clearer broth.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
firm white fish fillets, Dorsch, Zander, perch, pollock, or saithe
Quantity
700g
skinless, pin-boned, cut into 4cm pieces
light fish stock
Quantity
900ml
homemade from bones or fishmonger stock
white fish bones and trimmings (optional)
Quantity
600g
rinsed, gills removed, for homemade stock
cold water (optional)
Quantity
1 litre
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons, divided, plus more to taste
butter
Quantity
40g
onion
Quantity
1 medium
finely diced, trim reserved if making stock
leek
Quantity
1 small
white and light green parts sliced, dark green tops reserved for stock
carrot
Quantity
1 medium
diced small
celeriac or celery stalk
Quantity
100g celeriac or 1 stalk
diced small
floury potatoes, mehligkochend
Quantity
600g
peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
bay leaves
Quantity
2
black peppercorns
Quantity
6
allspice berries
Quantity
4
lightly crushed
yellow mustard seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lightly crushed
medium-hot German mustard, mittelscharfer Senf
Quantity
2 tablespoons
sour gherkins, Gewürzgurken
Quantity
120g
sliced into thin coins
gherkin brine
Quantity
2 tablespoons
cream, Schlagsahne
Quantity
150ml
fresh dill
Quantity
1 small bunch
chopped
white wine vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
freshly ground white or black pepper
Quantity
to taste
dark Schwarzbrot
Quantity
4 thick slices
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| firm white fish fillets, Dorsch, Zander, perch, pollock, or saitheskinless, pin-boned, cut into 4cm pieces | 700g |
| light fish stockhomemade from bones or fishmonger stock | 900ml |
| white fish bones and trimmings (optional)rinsed, gills removed, for homemade stock | 600g |
| cold water (optional) | 1 litre |
| fine sea salt | 1 1/2 teaspoons, divided, plus more to taste |
| butter | 40g |
| onionfinely diced, trim reserved if making stock | 1 medium |
| leekwhite and light green parts sliced, dark green tops reserved for stock | 1 small |
| carrotdiced small | 1 medium |
| celeriac or celery stalkdiced small | 100g celeriac or 1 stalk |
| floury potatoes, mehligkochendpeeled and cut into 2cm cubes | 600g |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| black peppercorns | 6 |
| allspice berrieslightly crushed | 4 |
| yellow mustard seedslightly crushed | 1 teaspoon |
| medium-hot German mustard, mittelscharfer Senf | 2 tablespoons |
| sour gherkins, Gewürzgurkensliced into thin coins | 120g |
| gherkin brine | 2 tablespoons |
| cream, Schlagsahne | 150ml |
| fresh dillchopped | 1 small bunch |
| white wine vinegar or lemon juice (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
| freshly ground white or black pepper | to taste |
| dark Schwarzbrotto serve | 4 thick slices |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 4 litre soup pot
- •Fine sieve
- •Fish tweezers
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Make the stock
If you have bones and trimmings, put them in a pot with 1 litre cold water, the dark leek tops, onion trim, 1 bay leaf, and the peppercorns. Bring it slowly to a bare simmer, skim it, and cook 20 minutes before straining. Fish bones give their sweetness quickly; boil them hard or run them for an hour and the broth turns cloudy and sharp. If you are using fishmonger stock, warm 900ml and keep it ready.
Remove gills from fish heads before stock. Gills make a bitter broth, and bitterness does not become tradition just because it came from the fish. - 2
Salt the fish
Cut the fillets into 4cm pieces, feel along each piece for pin bones, then season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and keep the fish cold while the base cooks. Fifteen minutes of salt firms the surface and seasons the centre; unsalted fish tastes flat even in good broth and breaks more easily.
- 3
Sweat the base
Melt the butter in a heavy pot over medium-low heat, then add the onion, leek, carrot, celeriac, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook 8 minutes, stirring, until the vegetables soften without browning. Browned onion pulls the pot toward roast sweetness; this broth wants clean vegetable sweetness and the taste of the coast.
- 4
Cook the potatoes
Stir in the mustard seeds, allspice, and remaining bay leaf, then add the potatoes and the strained stock. Simmer 12 to 15 minutes, until the potato corners soften and the broth starts to take body. Use floury potatoes here; they shed a little starch as they cook, so the broth thickens before cream ever enters the pot.
- 5
Season the broth
Whisk the mustard with a ladle of hot broth in a small bowl, then stir it back into the pot with the gherkins and gherkin brine. Lower the heat and add the cream. The mustard spreads evenly this way, and the cream stays smooth; a hard boil splits the cream and roughens the mustard.
- 6
Poach the fish
Runter mit der Temperatur. Slip the fish pieces into the trembling broth in a single layer, cover the pot, and cook 4 to 6 minutes, until the thickest pieces are just opaque and flake under a spoon. Add thin pieces last if your fish is uneven. Boiling squeezes lean fish dry and breaks the pieces; gentle poaching leaves the broth clear and the fish whole.
Do not stir hard once the fish is in. Shake the pot gently if you need to move things around; a spoon turns good fillets into fish scraps. - 7
Finish with dill
Take the pot off the heat and fold in the dill and a little ground pepper. Taste before adding more salt because the mustard and gherkin brine already brought plenty. Add the vinegar or lemon only if the broth tastes dull. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss: the sharp and green things go in last because they are the first things to fade.
- 8
Serve with rye
Let the pot stand 3 minutes off the heat, then ladle it into deep bowls with fish pieces left whole and potatoes sitting proud in the broth. Serve with thick slices of dark Schwarzbrot. The sour rye belongs beside the mustard cream and cucumber brine, and it wipes the bowl clean. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Chef Tips
- •Buy firm white fish that holds a cube: Zander, perch, pollock, saithe, or responsibly sourced cod. Soft flatfish falls apart before the potatoes are done, and salmon takes over the pot.
- •Use floury potatoes, mehligkochend, not waxy salad potatoes. A floury potato softens at the edge and gives body to the broth; a waxy one sits there politely and does no work.
- •Keep the mustard medium-hot and German. A sweet mustard drags the stew toward sausage, and a very sharp mustard bullies the fish.
- •The gherkin brine is part of the seasoning. Add salt only after the brine and mustard are in the pot, or you will chase salt around the bowl all evening.
- •If you have fish bones, make the 20-minute stock. Weggeworfen wird nichts, and the difference between a light fish stock and a salty cube is the difference between supper and punishment.
- •Drink a dry northern Pils or a dry Riesling with it. Sweet wine makes the cucumber taste flat.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the stock and vegetable-potato base up to 24 hours ahead, stopping before the cream and fish. Chill it quickly, then warm it gently the next day before adding mustard, cream, gherkins, and fish.
- •Cut the fish up to 4 hours ahead and keep it covered and cold. Salt it 15 minutes before cooking so it firms without drawing out too much liquid.
- •Leftovers can be cooled quickly and kept 1 day in the refrigerator. Reheat gently below a boil until hot through; the fish will be less perfect, but the broth will still be worth the bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 740g)
Calories
665 calories
Total Fat
27 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
10 g
Cholesterol
185 mg
Sodium
2050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
61 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
49 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Coastal Fish & the Hanseatic Table
Browse the full collection
Chef Klaus
Brathering
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.
Chef Klaus
Bückling
The North Sea and Baltic smokehouse fish: whole herring, salted just enough, cooked in warm smoke until the skin turns gold and the flesh lifts clean from the bones.
Chef Klaus
Finkenwerder Scholle
Hamburg's flatfish supper lives in one pan: whole plaice floured at the last moment, fried light side down first, then finished with Speck, onion, and bacon fat.