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Swedish Surströmming Adventures!


My good Swedish friend Mikael sent me a can of surströmming (fermented herring) to sample, a few weeks ago. We had talked about this dish during his stay in Korea last year as an exchange student, about how it's 10 times smellier than 홍어, which in my opinion is already one of the smelliest fermented fish thingy to ever exist. Surströmming, however, is different in that it's a canned food, and the can tends to swell while it ferments over a couple of months. For this reason, some airlines have even banned it on flights altogether (for fear of explosion).

I'd mentally prepared myself by watching videos of people eating it and puking, and going on about how nasty it is, and at the same time researching the traditional way to eat it. So I ordered some tunnbröd from IKEA, boiled some potatoes, chopped up some onion, and brought along butter to make a proper meal out of it instead of just an experiment. I drove all the way to Songdo, Incheon, where a friend of mine lived - she had found an awesome field, free of passersby and just human life in general, which we reckoned was a perfect place to taste this stinky fish.

It was a great experience; we spent more than 10 minutes trying to work out the can opener, forced to smell it the whole while. I was worried for a bit that we wouldn't be able to open the can and taste it, which would be a complete waste of time and all the efforts I took (in preparing all the other accompanying dishes), all the while being stuck with the stench. Eventually we managed to open the can, make a sloppy sandwich roll, and take a few bites.

I think it was more manageable for me because I had tasted and rather enjoyed other fermented and salty fishes before. This was obviously by far the stinkiest, of course, but when I was actually eating it, it was surprisingly all right. I think if the fully prepared meal was served to me, without any torturous can-opening ceremonies, I might have appreciated it a lot more. It's just the 10-plus minutes of having to endure the smell that sort of worsened the experience.

Anyway, after my brave attempt at live octopus last year, yesterday made me feel pretty invincible. Mikael tells me now I should probably be accepted as a Swedish citizen in no time, if I just show them the video. Just present me with the opportunity, anyone, and I'll be more than ready to pack my bags and fly over right away! :D
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