Lohikeitto

Finnish creamed salmon soup with potato, leek, allspice, and dill stirred in at the table

Origin: Finland

From the journey of Dill.

Lohikeitto is Finland's national soup and its most-cooked fish dish, made weekly in homes across the country and served at every stall in the Helsinki market halls. It is a simple construction: salmon, potato, leek or onion, and cream, in a broth built from the fish trimmings. What makes it Finnish rather than Nordic in general are two things. The first is allspice, maustepippuri, which appears in Finnish cooking with a frequency that surprises outsiders and which gives the soup a warm, faintly clove-like background that neither the Swedish nor the Norwegian equivalents have. The second is the sheer quantity of dill. The fish is the point and it is treated accordingly. The trimmings, head, and bones make the stock; the good flesh goes in cut into large pieces, at the very end, and is cooked for four minutes at most, off the boil. Salmon overcooked in soup turns dry and chalky and releases the pale albumin that clouds a broth, and the whole discipline of the dish is in restraint at that last stage. The soup is closely related across the region: Norway makes laksesuppe, Sweden a creamed salmon soup, and Karelia the version with rye flour thickening it. Finland's is the one that travelled, and Finnair has served it on board for decades, which is how a great many people outside the country first meet it. Dill goes in off the heat and at the table, generously. Finnish households put a bowl of it beside the pot and let people add their own.

Ingredients

Fish

600 g salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 4 cm pieces

Stock

400 g salmon head, bones, and trimmings, for the stock
1.2 litres water
1 whole onion, halved
10 whole allspice berries
2 whole bay leaves
1 large bunch dill stalks

Soup

500 g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm dice
2 whole leeks, white and pale green only, sliced
1 whole carrot, diced, optional
40 g butter
300 ml double cream
1.5 tsp salt, or to taste
0.5 tsp freshly ground white pepper

To Finish

6 tbsp fresh dill fronds, finely chopped, plus more at the table

Method

Rinse the salmon trimmings well, put them in a pan with the water, onion, allspice, bay, and dill stalks, bring slowly to a simmer, and skim.
Simmer gently for twenty minutes, no longer, then strain and discard the solids. You should have about a litre of clear stock.
Melt the butter in a clean pan and soften the leek and the carrot if using over a medium heat for five minutes without colouring.
Add the strained stock and the diced potato, bring to a simmer, and cook for 12 to 15 minutes until the potato is tender.
Stir in the cream, the salt, and the white pepper, and bring back to just below a simmer.
Slide in the salmon pieces, take the pan off the heat immediately, cover, and leave for four to five minutes. The residual heat will cook the fish through.
Stir in the chopped dill gently, taste for salt, and ladle into bowls, keeping the salmon pieces whole.
Serve with rye bread and butter, and put another bowl of chopped dill on the table for people to add their own.

Notes

If salmon trimmings are unavailable, a light fish stock or even a light vegetable stock will do, with the allspice, bay, and dill stalks simmered in it for ten minutes to bring it closer. Allspice is not optional. It is what distinguishes the Finnish soup from its Swedish and Norwegian relatives, and leaving it out gives a pleasant but anonymous creamed fish soup. It does not reheat well, for the same reason the fish goes in last: any second heating overcooks the salmon. Make what will be eaten, or hold back the stock base and cook the fish fresh. Some households add a spoonful of plain flour to the softened leek to thicken the soup slightly, and the Karelian version uses rye flour for the same purpose and gives a darker, nuttier result.

The Gastrographer

Name: Lohikeitto
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Finland
Ingredients: 600 g salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 4 cm pieces; 400 g salmon head, bones, and trimmings, for the stock; 1.2 litres water; 1 whole onion, halved; 10 whole allspice berries; 2 whole bay leaves; 1 large bunch dill stalks; 500 g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 cm dice; 2 whole leeks, white and pale green only, sliced; 1 whole carrot, diced, optional; 40 g butter; 300 ml double cream; 1.5 tsp salt, or to taste; 0.5 tsp freshly ground white pepper; 6 tbsp fresh dill fronds, finely chopped, plus more at the table

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control