Pickled Fish 3 Ways-Creamed, Creamy Dill, and Creamy Cajun

[MNHuntress]

If you have ever had the Viking Brand(which is Olsen's Fish in Minneapolis) Dilled or Cajun herring around the holidays, this is as pretty close as we can get it. We make this up when we need our Dilled or Cajun pickled fish fix and it's not the holidays anymore. If you go down there, Olsen's will sell you it offseason, but you have to buy a case.

We have tinkered with this recipe for several years, experimenting with different sour cream brands, and regular, light or fat free and if you follow it exactly and you'll be close. Some say it's even better than Viking brand when we put them side by side in a taste test. I really do prefer using panfish because they are about the right size. Enjoy!

Creamed Pickled Fish-Creamed, Dilled, and Cajun

1 Wide mouth canning jar with lid and ring

1 ½ pounds of panfish or pike cut into about 1 ½-2” pieces

Brine

1 TBL pickling spice 1 medium sweet white onion, sliced into rings, then quarter the rings so they fit on a cracker

½ cup of sugar 1 cup white vinegar

2 TBL Salt

Cook brine slowly until mixture boils. Cool completely. Layer fish and onion in the jar until about 2/3rd’s full. Pour brine over fish, put on ring and lid. Shake every two days, and in two weeks it’s done.

Dump fish and onion mixture in a strainer and wash completely. I usually like to split the batch of fish and make half dilled and half Cajun, so you will need two separate bowls. Pull out fish and onions and split evenly into two bowls, leaving the pickling spice behind in the strainer. Try to dry fish of moisture with a paper towel.

Note-If you only want to make 1 flavor, not a split batch then get 1-16oz. container of Light Sour Cream.

Creamed

Mix the pickled fish with 1-8oz. container of Light Sour Cream(use Kemps or Land O’Lakes). Let marinade for 4 hours and it’s ready.

Dilled

In a separate bowl mix, mix 1-8 oz. container of Light Sour Cream with 1 TBL Dill Weed (Dry) and 1 tsp sugar. Mix in fish and onions, marinade for 4 hours or so and it’s done. Eat within a couple of days, as the sugar causes the sour cream to get runny.

Cajun

In a separate bowl, mix 1-8oz. container of light Sour Cream with 2 tsp. of Paul Prudhomme Cajun Seasoning Mix (either bought in the store or recipe follows) plus ¼ tsp cayenne pepper. Mix in fish and onions, marinade for 4 hours or so and it’s ready. This Cajun version is not super hot for those with delicate palette’s, just enough BAM!

Prudhomme's Cajun Seasoning Mix

1 Tablespoon Paprika

2 1/2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Teaspoon Onion powder

1 Teaspoon Garlic powder

1 Teaspoon Ground red pepper (cayenne)

3/4 Teaspoon White pepper

3/4 Teaspoon Black pepper

1/2 Teaspoon Dried thyme leaves

1/2 Teaspoon Dried oregano leaves

Mix all ingredients well and store for later use.

[JP Z]

Thank you so much for the recipes MNHuntress!! I'm going to have to go get a few pike now!

[Juneau4]

I tried your recipe and used sunfish, I also had some of the Olsen's pickled herring to compare them with. Outstanding - thank you for posting what you did. I will probably never buy any again unless my wife quits catching fish. They are good.

[otterman91105]

I can't wait to try this recipe i love the creamy herring.

[delcecchi]

Just don't forget to freeze the fish hard for a week before pickling. Parasites are not good eats.

[otterman91105]

My brine and fish will be done on monday can't wait.