Salmon Soup Recipe for Karelian Lohikeitto

This salmon soup recipe for Karelian lohikeitto makes a rich and creamy salmon soup packed with vegetables, which has a gentle warmth due to allspice and a freshness of flavour and fragrance thanks to dill, the beloved herb of Russian and Nordic cuisines. It was Karelskiy rybnyy sup in Russian, simply 'Karelian fish soup', when I was growing up. Despite my baboushka making it with salmon, it wasn’t identified as a salmon soup in the way Karelian people distinguish salmon soup (lohikeitto) from fish soup (kalakeitto). Can't source salmon or not a fan? Replace it with your favourite fish. Serve with sour cream and slices of sourdough or black rye bread for dunking.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Lunch, Dinner, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Karelian, Finnish, Russian

Calories: 2073kcal

Author: Lara Dunston

Equipment

Soup Pot
ladle
soup bowls

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter unsalted
1 brown onion small, peeled, diced
1 leek thoroughly cleaned, finely sliced into rings, white and light green parts
4 potatoes medium sized, peeled, cut into medium sized cubes
2 carrots medium sized, peeled and sliced
800 ml water or fish stock
4 bay leaves
½ tsp allspice
200 ml cooking cream or thickened cream or heavy cream
460 g salmon fillets skinless, bones removed, cut into large chunks
2 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
4 tbsp fresh dill add half just before serving, and half for garnishing
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

To a soup pot over low, heat the olive oil and butter, add the onions and leaks, and sauté for 5 minutes or so until starting to soften and fragrant.
Increase the heat to medium, add the carrots, stir to combine, and continue to sauté for a couple of minutes.
To the same pot, add the potatoes, water or fish stock, bay leaves, and spices, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook for around 15-20 minutes or so, or until the potatoes are tender.
Reduce the heat to low, add the cream and salmon pieces and cook until the fish is just done, around 3-5 minutes.
Just before serving, stir through half the finely-chopped fresh parsley and dill, and season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Use a ladle to scoop out the vegetables and lay them in the bowls first to create a base, top them with the salmon pieces, then ladle the creamy broth into the bowls.
Shower each bowl with the remaining fresh herbs, spoon on a dollop of sour cream, and grind on a little more black pepper.
Serve with dishes of fresh herbs and sour cream on the table, along with slices of sourdough or black rye bread for dunking.

Notes

Salmon - our recipe calls for 460 g salmon fillets because that’s the standard weight of a pack of 4 salmon fillets in an Australian supermarket, but essentially you want one salmon fillet of around 100-120 g or so per person.

Nutrition