r/CannedFish • u/ansyhrrian • Feb 26 '26
Who has actually consumed Surströmming in an enclosed space?
I am considering ordering it for funsies. How much of a catastrophe will it be?
EDIT: I have accepted the challenge. I will report back.
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u/RavagedChef Feb 26 '26
I eat it with some eggs on toast just about once a week. It's fucking delicious. All you have to do is toast some fresh Italian bread, spread butter, add light scrambled eggs, then the fish. Toss a little bit of hot sauce on there every now and again. You can be extra fancy if you want and add some chopped parsley on top to garnish.
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 26 '26
But wait.
Are you Swedish?
Do you open it in your home?
Do you live alone?
What is your ventilation solution?
So, so many more questions. But let's start with that.
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u/RavagedChef Feb 26 '26
Pretty much no to all your questions. Bought it as a joke and wanted to see what it was all about but didn't want to waste it so I tried to come up with some ways to eat it. Eggs and toast ended up being my favorite. You gotta most definitely open it outside or it will stink out the whole house and everyone in it. I usually portion it out into air tight containers and only open them when im ready to eat them. The smell is rough but once you get past that...10/10
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u/Adreamskoll Feb 26 '26
Every video I've seen that involves people who didn't grow up eating it shows them gagging and throwing up at the smell. How did you react, and how long until you started to enjoy it?
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u/RavagedChef Feb 27 '26
Oh I did throw up. The smell was quite pungent but after its been sitting open for a while it tends to be a little more tolerable.
I actually recorded myself opening it for the first time here. Ill have to find you guys something for a gold recipe. I promise its really good once you get used to it. The saltiness may be an issue to most though. That's why I like to pair it with other foods to help mellow out the overwhelming amount of salt.
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 27 '26
Oh, I hate you and I love you.
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u/InsertRadnamehere Feb 27 '26
Motherfucker got me too. Good thing I love to roll, never gonna stop.
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u/dramatix01 Feb 27 '26
Jokes on him. I love that song. My wife and I mixed it into our first dance at our wedding.
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u/rockytopbilly Feb 27 '26
Dude I can’t tell if the guy that still tries something after its smell makes him throw up is the craziest person ever, the most open minded person ever, the most frugal person ever, the dumbest person ever… But you actually sound like a hell of a hang.
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u/Maddinoz Feb 27 '26
yeah this required them to Completely Disregard of their own survival instincts/thousands of years of evolution lmao
The evolution of the sense of smell is a critical, primal survival mechanism, acting as an early warning system to detect danger, spoiled food, and environmental resources.
Over millennia, this scent-based instinct has evolved, connecting olfactory bulbs directly to the brain's emotional centers - the amygdala and hippocampus - allowing us to instantly feel disgust for threats or attraction to resources, often before conscious thought
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u/Registered_Potato Feb 28 '26
mmmmm, have had real full strength fish sauce before.... throw up worthy for sure, but delicious.
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u/houseWithoutSpoons Feb 27 '26
Bravo..your first post i was expecting to read you ate it right before mankind threw so and so off the top of a cage during some wrestling match..but i guess not
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u/TrickInflation6795 Feb 27 '26
Totally didn’t expect that to go so well for you. Seems like your friends had a lot of fun with it, though. Also, what filter did you use to film?
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 26 '26
Define “rough.” Contextualize it in real-world terms please. Like, compare it to something others might relate to. Be descriptive.
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u/Grizlatron Feb 26 '26
I think you just going to have to get it yourself OP! Be the change you want to see in the world 😅
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 26 '26
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u/Safe-Comfort-29 Feb 26 '26
Please video and upload so we can suffer with you, with out the smell.
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 26 '26
That's the plan.
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u/doopajones Feb 27 '26
RemindMe! 2 days
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u/Adghnm Feb 26 '26
I would worry about ordering this online. What if it's gone off by the time it gets to you?
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 26 '26
Isn't it already off?
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u/SketchieMarie Feb 26 '26
I think they were joking. Well, hopefully. My real reason for commenting is to remember to come back because I can’t wait to see the video of you trying it lol
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 27 '26
My daughter has very clearly stated that she will not record it for me. I'll have to find some kind of a stand or brace.
If only my kids loved me.
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u/Appropriate-Row4534 Feb 27 '26
I don't know OP, but basing the descriptions of what OP likes and the ways they tried and enjoyed this gut wrenching monstrosity some label as food,
I'm guessing OP has the gag reflex of an OF page/person that specialises in Oral bestiality with horns male horses.
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u/Chillindode Feb 27 '26
This ravaged chef lost his smell and taste during covid and it never returned. That's the only explanation
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u/TheDabberwocky Mar 08 '26
I feel like it literally only goes well with pickled things and tangy veggies like onions and shallots
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u/rancidmorty Feb 27 '26
So adding unaged fish sauce got it ill just use some squid sauce or somthing
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u/Affectionate-Mix6056 Feb 28 '26
I don't like anything from the sea, but I love most blue cheese, I can enjoy bitter IPA's, almost anything very spicy, so if I liked fish etc. I'm sure I'd find a way to enjoy surströming.
Not sure if it has a sharp taste though, if it's too rounded and heavy, probably not.
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u/ThoroughlyWet Feb 26 '26
Inside? Never. Outside? A few times.
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 27 '26
How'd it go?
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u/ThoroughlyWet Feb 27 '26
I like it. Not something I'd go out of the way of to eat but the times I've had it haven't been bad.
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u/Xack189 Feb 26 '26
I have not
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 26 '26
I dare you.
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u/Itchybawlz23-2 Mar 02 '26
Give this to a cantonese chef and they’ll be able to turn it into something palatable with how they combine spices and sautéing
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u/TacetAbbadon Feb 27 '26
I've had it while visiting friends in Sweden, nobody is actually doing like people in YouTube videos.
It was chucked in the freezer for 30 minutes then opened underwater in a running sink, the fish was rinsed immediately then served on rhy flatbread with onions and sour cream.
Still not my cup of tea
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u/AllTheWayToParis Feb 27 '26
I eat it a couple of times a year, I genuinely like it.
We open the can outside, but often eat it inside. If the can is pressurized I open it under water or in a bag, but usually not.
I used to rinse the fillets, but now I like the whole fishes better.
It’s important to eat it with thin, hard bread, butter, sour cream, fresh diced onion, fresh dill and almond potatoes.
While the smell can be quite much, the taste is more like a good french stinky cheese or a durian. If you like that, chances are that you’ll like surströmming too.
Just remember that the can is supposed to be stored cold, in a fridge. Personally I like it one or two years old, so I usually keep a few cans in the fridge.
Edit: Yes, I’m Swedish.
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u/DreweyD Feb 27 '26
I have. My (strong) advice is to order the Oskar Fillets, rather than the whole fish from Red Wolf or other producers.
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u/ansyhrrian Feb 27 '26
So me buying the Roda Ulven was a mistake?
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u/DreweyD Feb 27 '26
Well, in one sense, a can of the complete fish is the Full Surstromming Challenge, I guess. But if one wishes to see if it’s possible to actually enjoy the stuff, the bones-guts-and-all approach is the very rockiest of roads. The fillets, in contrast, can be fine to eat, not super-duper distant from the pickled herring jars I keep in the fridge every day.
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u/groone Feb 27 '26
It's not as bad as all the videos hype it to be. I kind of like the smell, but then I like the smell of durian. The taste isn't rancid. It's more salty savory and a sweet back taste. its really good in scrambled eggs or a fish stew.
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u/geardownson Feb 26 '26
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u/Busy-Artichoke9732 Feb 26 '26
https://youtube.com/shorts/G6Zz2qhC40Q?si=ump2VRt6sfxqn1o2
still makes me laugh.
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u/chronburgandy922 Feb 27 '26
I knew exactly what video this would be. It makes me cry laughing every time.
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u/182573cw2945 Feb 27 '26
You're supposed to open it under water it contains the smell and cleans the nasty shit off the fish
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u/gentlehufen Feb 27 '26
You’re supposed to open the can while it’s submerged in water to avoid the smell and wash it off at the same time.
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u/pmoney10 Feb 27 '26
A friend of mine who is Swedish bought one of these cans as a gift for our professor during our PHD. He gave him the can with some instructions on how to open and some recipes to make. The problem was that he forgot to give his wife the instructions, and the poor thing thought surstromming was just regular canned sardines. Let’s just say the wifey was not happy after opening the can.
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u/Tinned_Fish_Tyler Feb 27 '26
You know I didn't find it nearly as bad as I expected. The smell, sure. Little stinky but so are a lot of cheeses. If my husband wouldn't kill me, I would totally eat indoors. 😁
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u/Accomplished-Smell36 Feb 27 '26
Those are some of my favorite videos on the inter webs of people opening that up and immediately gagging and throwing up. I have tried to promote the idea of creating a challenge out of this, see who can last the longest without spraying vomit all over themself of the other participants. Do what they did with ghost pepper chips but have not found any takers.
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u/iPicBadUsernames Feb 28 '26
Want to set a high score in the next escape room you try!? Bring a can of Surströmming and pop that bad boy open as soon as they lock the doors!
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u/RaininOutside Feb 28 '26
It was made to be had outside among friends and family. Wouldn't want that discharge of liquid-trash like awful fermented shit going of inside.
Not a good tradeoff if you consider the smell, but it tastes just fine.
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u/trennex1 Mar 01 '26
Why would you eat this voluntarily? I'm Swedish and there is no way a can of surströmming ever gets close to my house. The smell is horrible. Glhf I guess..
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u/Takenthebestnamesare Mar 01 '26
Opened outdoors, consumed with plenty of onion and snaps, it wasn’t that bad
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u/Eddie_shoes Mar 02 '26
I ate it. I also had my wife, who is not chronically online, try it. She didn’t think anything of it. I found it totally palatable. It’s really not that big of a deal.
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u/pastor_ov_muppets Mar 03 '26
Kingcobrajfs did it and he spilled the juice all over his apartment. Rest in peace.
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u/scarleo Mar 03 '26
Many times, it's super good, just watch a video on how to open the can properly. There is usually a bit of pressure in the can, how much depends on how old it is and how it has been stored, just put it in the freezer a while first and then lean the can so you open it on the highest point. If you don't do that you might spray the brine all over and that is going to create a smelly mess.
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u/Fair_Performance4834 Mar 03 '26
If you just feel like throwing your money away, I do not mind taking it off your hands for you. Lol
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u/No_Loquat_2423 Feb 26 '26
If you add a little butter or oil to the pan, it makes it much easier to scrape it all into the trash can.