My smoked herring has arrived. All the way from Heilongjiang in the frozen north, next to Russian Siberia. There are a lot of Russian ethnic Chinese nationals there and trade ties are close.
Known here as 鲱鱼 (fēi yú), it is Clupea pallasii, Herring but this is labelled as 冷熏 鲱鱼 (lěng xūn fēi yú), cold smoked herring. So far; so good.
It is, as you can see in the photograph in the above post, labelled in Chinese and Russian. Cельдь (seld) is the correct translation for herring reassuring me somewhat. But that photo is from the seller’s listing. What actually arrived is only described in Chinese but it seems they supply both markets so hopefully it will be the same.
What will I do with it? Not sure yet. There are options. Kedgeree or simply grilled / broiled with butter the way it is served in Scotland I’ll let you know. It’s in the freezer as recommended.
I ordered the smallest size available as a tester. If it's up to par, I'll go larger next time.
