Salmon soup is a joint favorite of Risto Mikkola and his daughter.
Salmon soup is a chef Risto Mikkolan and his Emmi-his daughter’s shared favorite food. Or at least one of many favorite foods.
– If I could decide which food my daughter would treat me to, it would be salmon soup. I wonder what food we would both like to eat and what food brings us together, says Mikkola, who knows her daughter’s taste in food.
Mikkola has prepared thousands of liters of salmon soup in both restaurant and home kitchens, but he is not tired of it yet.
– I come from the Perämere beach in Oulu, where salmon soup is eaten a lot. It’s a bit in my blood, Mikkola laughs.
And you can’t get anywhere, the salmon soup is really good. Often the daughter may ask the father to cook salmon soup. And that’s what Mikkola likes to do, at the same time passing on the bloodline.
But since we are now spoiling Sunday’s hero, i.e. father, the soup must be finer than usual. The soup gets a touch of luxury from pan-fried salmon.
Of course, the best broth for salmon soup comes from perches cooked by yourself, but Mikkola doesn’t judge, even if the broth is made from ready-made fondue or fish stock cubes.
When you cook perkei, remember to be careful that they don’t boil for too long. Just under half an hour is a good time. Otherwise, the taste is no longer good. Strain the broth and only then add salt to it.
Mikkola keeps the list of ingredients for salmon soup short. In addition to fish, it only contains potatoes, onions, cream, butter and dill, as well as salt and black pepper.
There should be plenty of onions. Of course, you can add other things to the soup if you want, such as carrot.
– But it doesn’t need it.
Cream and fresh dill complete the taste.
In this Father’s Day version, dill pesto is poured over the surface of the soup.
Mikkola likes milk-based soups the most, although sometimes she also cooks a clear or tomato-based soup.
– Milk-based fish soup is in Finns’ DNA.
The chef can correct one thing: if the potato has thin skins, you don’t need to peel them.
Father’s Day salmon soup
1 liter of water
1 fish stock cube (or boil the stock from the sticks)
3 bay leaves
10 allspice
2 chopped onions
800 g cubed potatoes
3 dl of whipped cream
2 tablespoons of butter
1 dl chopped dill
1. Boil the fish broth, spices and onions in a pot (or boil the broth from the fish bones).
2. Add the potatoes and simmer until cooked. Add cream, butter and dill. Boil and check the taste.
Fried salmon
8 x 50 g slices of salmon
30 g of butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1. Fry the salmon in a frying pan in butter until crispy and season with salt.
Dill pesto
50 g of dill chips
30 g of almond chips
0.5 dl rapeseed oil
0.5 dl olive oil
0.5 tsp of salt
1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and puree. You can also use a stick blender.
Assembling the dose
1. Put the salmon soup on a plate, spoon the dill pesto over it and finally two slices of fried salmon pieces.
2. Garnish with a sprig of dill. Serve with rye bread and roasted onion spread.
Roasted onion spread
2 large onions
0.5 dl olive oil
0.5 tsp of salt
1. Put the peeled whole onions in an ovenproof dish and roast in a 200-degree oven for 30 minutes.
2. Squeeze the inside of the ripe onion into a blender. Add olive oil and salt. Puree.
Prinz Von Hessen Riesling Feinherb 2021, Germany (€16.49)
The Prinz von Hessen wine house is run by Donatus von Hessen, Landgrave of Hesse. His great-grandfather, Landgrave Friedrich Karl of Hesse, was elected King of Finland in 1918, but never took office. The house’s pure character, elegantly acidic and semi-dry Riesling finds its most perfect match with fish dishes and is a perfect partner for creamy salmon soup.