Russian Herring Under a Fur Coat Salad Recipe

Selyodka pod Shuboj salad (literally, Herring Under a Fur Coat) is a beloved and traditional Russian recipe, consisting of 5 layers of salted herring and boiled vegetables (along with a lot of mayonnaise) traditionally served on New Year’s Eve. It requires some time and agility to pull together, as well as 12 hours for its layers to soak after it is assembled.

Make sure you start early in order to have enough time to make this dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 big or 2 small whole herrings (pickled with salt)
• 1 large potato, peeled
• 3-4 medium-sized carrots, peeled
• 3 medium-sized beets, peeled
• Bunch of green onions
• Mayonnaise

Russian Herring Under a Fur Coat Instructions:

1. In a saucepan, cover the potato and carrots with at least 2 inches of water and boil until tender, about 
15 minutes for the carrots and 20 minutes for the potato. Let cool to room temperature, then grate each vegetable separately using the large slots of a box grater.
2. In a separate saucepan, boil the peeled beets for about 45 minutes or until they are soft. Cool and then grate just like the carrots and potato.
3. Often you can purchase skinned, salted herring fillets at your grocer or your local fish market, but in case you want to skin and filet your own, here’s how:  Skin and fillet salted herrings.
4. Using a large flat plate, arrange the potatoes into a round layer in the middle.  Make sure to leave at least 2 inches around the edges of the plate.
5. Thinly spread a few tablespoons of mayonnaise across the top of the grated potato.
6. Dice herring fillets (and pick bones if you see any), then layer herring above potato layer.
7. Add chopped green onions as the third layer and spread mayonnaise over the top.
8. Use the grated carrots for the next layer, using your hands to shape the entire pile into a mound.
9. Spread mayonnaise across the surface.
10. Cover the whole thing with an even layer of the grated beets.
11. And finally, add one more layer of mayonnaise.

Let the salad rest at room temperature for 2 hours, then cover loosely with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge, ideally, overnight so the layers can absorb the juices and flavors of each other and the mayonnaise.

Tip:

Prepare this salad the night before you plan to serve it.

For more Russian holiday food, check out our recipe for traditional Salad Olivier.

Also, learn about Russian New Year and Christmas celebrations in our Russian Winter Holidays post!