The Best Sauces for Swedish Hot Smoked Salmon (Varmrökt lax)
If you've never had hot smoked salmon (varmrökt lax), you're missing out. This melt in your mouth delicacy is a favourite among Swedes everywhere. And the sauces to go with it are surprisingly simple.
How to Serve Hot Smoked Salmon
Before we get into the sauces, let's discuss how to best serve hot smoked salmon.
While it might be hot smoked, it's usually served cold with potatoes. Preferably nypotatis (new potatoes) cooked with dill.
Other options are to serve it with a salad...or in a salad. You can serve it with rice, too.
Sauces that go well with hot smoked salmon tend to be sour cream based---usually mixed with mayonnaise. But if you live somewhere where the sour cream is hard to get hold of, try using Greek yoghurt or some other creamy yoghurt instead.
Dill Sauce (Dillsås)
The flavor of spring...what better herb to use for a sauce for hot smoked salmon? Especially if served with new potatoes!
The original recipe can be found here.
Ingredients
- 1.5 dl mayonnaise
- 2 dl crème fraîche
- 0.5 dl chopped dill, fresh or frozen
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 pinch white pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh dill or dill sprigs for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse and chop the dill.
- Mix everything into a creamy sauce in a bowl.
- Season with salt, white pepper, and lemon juice to taste.
Roe Sauce (Romsås)
This is perhaps the most traditional sauce to serve with hot smoked salmon. Or maybe that's dill sauce? Both are incredibly popular and tasty.
The original recipe can be found here.
Ingredients
- Salt and black pepper
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 0.5 dl mayonnaise
- 2 dl crème fraîche
- 1 bunch chives
- 1 bunch dill
3 tbsp roe, such as lumpfish roe or trout roe
Instructions
- Finely chop the dill and chives.
- Mix the crème fraîche, mayonnaise, and lemon juice, then gently fold in the roe.
- Let it sit in the refrigerator for a while before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste if needed.
Herby Summer Sauce (Sommarsås)
This is also made with a similar base, but the herbs differ, and it includes onions.
Ingredients
- 3 dl sour cream
- 0.5 dl mayonnaise
- 1.5 tbsp Skåne mustard
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 0.5 tsp Italian salad seasoning
- 1 dl chives, chopped
- 0.5 dl dill, chopped
- salt
- white pepper, freshly ground
Instructions
Mix the ingredients for the sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.