Skagenröra-Swedish shrimp salad

Skagenröra is a Swedish savory seafood salad with shrimp as main ingredient. This simple shrimp salad is a harmonious blend of fresh shrimp, creamy mayonnaise, some sour cream, zesty dill, and a hint of lemon. This shrimp salad can be enjoyed in various ways; on top of a toast, as filling in oven potatoes or as a Nordic tapas.

Why you should try this

• A traditional Swedish recipe that is very simple and quick to make.
• You can be sure to impress your guests with this recipe. Serve it as a an appetizer or as a part of main course.

History

Although this dish is named after Skagen, the northern tip of Denmark, it is not a Danish dish. In fact, if you were to visit Skagen in Denmark and ask for Toast Skagen or skagenröra, it might not be on the menu.

There is a nice story behind this dish. The famous chef Tore Wretman was sailing with his friends at a race near Skagen, Denmark, in 1956. Tore made a delicious sandwich for lunch using ingredients available on the boat, and so a simple shrimp toast was created.

This recipe is inspired by the original Tore Wretman toast skagen. Swedish people really love toast skagen, but it's not only on toast; the shrimp mix is delicious in many things.

Ingredients and substitutions

• Pre-cooked frozen shrimp.
• Fresh lemon.
• Red Onion- Replace with shallot, or even chives.
• Sour cream or Creme fraiche.
• Mayonnaise.
• Chopped fresh dill.
• Salt.
• Black pepper.

You can use either smaller or larger sizes of shrimp; it all depends on what you are serving this with. If I make some toast Skagen with this salad, I like to decorate with some larger shrimp on top of the sandwich or even with some crayfish tails if I want to be a bit more fancy.

You can easily make a milk-free version by replacing the sour cream with a plant-based soured thick cream, or you can use only mayonnaise in the recipe.

Variations

You should not make too drastic variations to this salad since it is no longer a traditional Skagenröra. But here are some ideas on how to elevate the flavors.

• Add some horseradish, and give some additional layer of flavor.
• Add some fish roe to the recipe. You can also use caviart, seaweed pearls.
• Add some chives
• Add some surimi/crab sticks. This is a popular addition in some store-bought skagenröra. Crab is also cheaper than shrimp, so you can replace some of the shrimp with this ingredient.

I have experimented with some of my own versions as well. I like shrimp salad with lime instead of lemon, and also some sweet chili powder is nice. These variations are though not anymore traditionally Swedish.

How to thaw your shrimp

The easiest and best way to thaw your shrimp is by having it overnight in the refrigerator. Remember to have the bag on a plate or bowl, so you don't mistakenly end up having a soggy shelf in your fridge. If you are in a hurry, or forgot to thaw your shrimp then you can place them in a strainer and rinse with cold water until thawed.

How to avoid soggy shrimp: When thawed in the fridge put them in a strainer so any exess liquid can run out. Opt for larger shrimp, as they tend to hold their texture better. Small shrimp may become mushy more quickly. If your shrimp feels a bit soggy you can pat dry them with paper towel.

How to avoid rubbery shrimp: There are some occasions when you might end up with rubbery shrimp. This is common if you poured boiling water over them for a quick thaw. Make sure you don't use this method of thawing. Avoid also boilind the shrimp in water as a method of thawing.

Food safety: Avoid thawing the shrimp at room temperature to prevent bacterial growth.

Tips

• To add more lemon flavor to your salad, serve some lemon wedges so your guests can add more lemon if they want to.
• If you end up with a watery salad you might have added your shrimp before they were fully thawed.
• If you ended up with just a bit leftover for the next day, you can add some chopped boiled egg in the salad to make a nice bread topping.

How to serve

• Serve this on top of roasted toast to make a Toast skagen-style sandwich. To elevate your sandwich you can add a small piece of lettuce on the bottom and decorate with some boiled sliced egg and some fresh dill.
• Skagenröra is often served with a spoon of roe on top as decoration. You can use black or red roe. This is of course optional. I usually use seaweed pearls since they are much cheaper.
• Skagenröra tapas. Shrimp salad on top of rye bread is also very delicious. It goes so well with this sweet archipelago bread to make a Scandinavian appetizer. Another type of tapas is made with boiled slices eggs topped with skagenröra or you can do the same with avocados.
• Serve as a filling with baked oven potato or oven sweet potato.
• Eat skagenröra in your tunnbrösrulle. An exceptional way to enjoy this shrimp salad is to have it in your Swedish hot dog that is wrapped in tunnbröd-a thin bread. You serve it with Swedish varmkorv, crispy onions, sweet mustard, and some skagenröra.
• Another way to engoy it in a tunnbrödsrulle is to wrap it with some lettuce and some sliced cured salmon. This way you can make appetizer roll-ups.
• This skagenröra also makes a delicious filling for a smörgåstårta, sandwich cake. If you use it as a filling then use some cream cheese to replace the sour cream. This way, you get a firmer consistency.

How to store

Store the shrimp salad in the fridge, since it easily takes on flavors from the fridge. Shrimp do not store well, so eat this shrimp salad within a day. Do not keep it at room temperature for longer than an hour. Both shrimp and mayonnaise are sensitive products and get bacteria growth rapidly at room temperature.