Rick and I had the opportunity to eat not one but two delicious meals in a Norwegian cafe recently. It was my first experience with real Nordic cuisine. For the second visit I ordered a delicious shrimp salad served on dark bread with sliced hard boiled eggs and loads of fresh dill. This was a sandwich you needed a knife and fork to eat because the shrimp were piled so high! In Sweden this sandwich is a classic and is called räksmörgås.
Making a meal like this can be a bit of a challenge in Spain. There’s a large Scandinavian population in the South, but where we live there’s little Nordic influence.
There are seven (7!) grocery stores we visit on a regular basis. Sometimes I’ll have to visit two or three to collect all the ingredients. Some stores just don’t carry particular items, like fresh herbs. Others might have a product on one visit, but not the next. More often they don’t have it on my first visit when I really, really need it but the next time I go there will be a whole shelf full.
Oh well, walking is good exercise.
Making a Shrimp Salad Sandwich can be an adventure.
My first task was to find some sort of dark bread. We stopped in a couple places while out running errands, hopeful to find a pumpernickel or dark rye bread. Finally, I realized my best bet was to see if IKEA had something suitable. Last year I shopped their grocery section while looking for smoked salmon. They sell a just-add-water mix that turned out a nice heavy loaf, full of seeds and whole grains. I was kind of glad I couldn’t find pumpernickel, to be honest.
Next on the list was to purchase some shrimp and fresh dill. For that I walked across town to the upscale grocery because I knew they sold fresh herbs. They also had fresh and frozen shrimp. The fresh shrimp always have the heads so to make things a little easier I bought 500 grams (just over a pound) of medium peeled and frozen shrimp which were steamed in lightly salted lemon water.
These recipes from Delishhh and A Good Appetite helped me put together the dressing. I actually made more dressing than was strictly necessary, but it was nice to allow the shrimp to marinate for a while before serving. Extra dressing was spread on the bread before assembling the sandwich. I added the hard boiled eggs since that’s how they did it when I was served at Mundo Pequeño. The asparagus was added because I had it on hand.
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons sour cream, creme fraiche or plain greek yogurt (I used yogurt)
- 3 tablespoons or more chopped fresh dill save some for garnish
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
- dash of hot sauce (I used tabasco)
- a generous squeeze of lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
For the rest
- 1 pound 500 grams medium shrimp, cooked and peeled
- 2 slices brown bread or pumpernickel or rye
- 2 hard boiled eggs sliced
- jarred asparagus spears
Instructions
- Stir the dressing ingredients together in a bowl large enough to hold the shrimp.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Stir in the cooked shrimp and transfer to the fridge for a half an hour.
- To serve, use a slotted spoon to remove the shrimp from the dressing.
- Toast the bread if you like then arrange on a plate and spread some of the extra dressing on the bread.
- Arrange the sliced hard boiled eggs and asparagus on top then pile the shrimp salad high. Garnish with dill. Serve with a knife and a fork.
I thought the flavor was pretty close to what I remembered, but Rick felt it needed a little punch. He sprinkled smoky paprika on top.
Make sure to drop by to see what else has been prepared for Food of the World celebration. If you have a Swedish recipe please feel free to drop a link, and sign up for the newsletter so you can join in next time. UPDATE 2020: Unfortunately the Food of the World Party no longer exists. I enjoyed participating while it lasted. If you click on the Food of the World tag below you’ll see other recipes I made while exploring world cuisine.
More shrimp recipes you may enjoy:
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- Shrimp Burgers
This is a fantastic recipe, I had a shrimp salad croissant at IKEA, the croissant a such a lively buttery taste that was complemented by the shrimp salad.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Richard. I wrote that post in 2015 and the grocery scene where I live in Spain has changed quite a bit. Many stores carry rye, whole grain and even pumpernickel bread, but now that you’ve mentioned it, the bakery up the street from us sells gorgeous croissants that would make delicious sandwiches. Thanks for the idea!
This looks delicious. I really like how Swedish open-faced sandwiches are simple, yet so full of flavor. This is a great example of that.
Thanks, Nicky. I think the heavy brown bread helps make the sandwich distinctive. 🙂
Looks delish and I’m excited to try this on weekends 🙂 Now I have something new to share with hubby and with the whole fam. Thank you for the recipe.
Thanks, Ayesha! I how you all enjoy it 🙂
What a great lunch idea! It looks flavorful and delicious!
Thanks, Neli! We enjoyed it, hope you get a chance to at least try the shrimp salad 🙂
Oh, Lydia I cannot wait to try this sandwich! Looks fantastic! Loving the Tabasco splash…
Yes, I like the flavor of dill, but the tabasco adds a little needed something. 🙂
My husband loves shrimp and these flavors sounds really good. I need to make this for him. He would love it.
Thanks Kelly, I hope he likes it 🙂
Oh my, the salad looks amazing! I love shrimps. I can’t wait to give this a try.
I’m sure you’ll love it. Thanks!
I’ve never seen any recipe like this before but it looks absolutely delicious definitely saving this one for later!
I actually think this sandwich looks REALLY good but unfortunately I’m allergic to Shellfish 🙁 I wonder if I could modify it with fish?
I think it’s worth a try with diced surimi. Please let me know how it turns out!
That looks so fresh and delicious! I like that little kick of tabasco in there too.
The tabasco adds a nice flavor. Thanks, Liz!
I love the combination of shrimp and dill, this is my kind of sandwich, it sounds delicious, especially with the hard boiled egg, yum!
Yes, the egg adds a little different color and texture.
Shrimp salad, I cant wait to taste that. Yummy.
OH loves the scandinavian open sandwiches – and I think this would go down a treat with him.
I love those sandwiches too. Some of them are quite attractive.
This sounds like something the husband would love!! Putting this on my weeknight menu for sure! Yum!
It’s perfect for a week night, especially if you can purchase the bread. It takes a half and hour at the most, and that’s if you have to cook the egg and the shrimp.
Aaah, this is something that I would really really love to try. I love Shrimp & all sorts of Shrimp Sandwiches + Salad. This should be fantastic.
OMG! this is such a mouth watering food. Really looks yummy and delicious. I’m going to try this too. Thanks for sharing.
I’m a huge fan of shrimp so this would be nice! Thanks for the recipe, I seriously want some right now. Lol.
My nephew was really love shrimp. I bet he would like this shrimp salad
That looks so appetizing. I couldn’t imagine having to ramble about to different stores for on recipe.
I give up sometimes, or change my plans because I get irritated. Other times I’m happy to putz around 🙂
Well, if you’ve gotta have it…you gotta have it. ???
Oh my gosh more power to you for making so many grocery store stops for one dish!! This looks like it was totally worth it though! Yum!
The stores aren’t that far apart but it would be nice to be able to make one stop that’s for sure.
Now that is what I call a sandwich ! Perfection, and I wish you could make that land in my lap right now !
Eat it without a knife and fork and you’ll get your wish, hahaha.
i love shrimp so i’m practically drooling looking at the picture
I love a good seafood salad! These pictures make me want to dig in!
This looks like a great dish to serve for a holiday party. Thank you for sharing.
It would be a nice addition, maybe in bread or lettuce cups.
I can’t believe what you had to go through to get all of the ingredients, and I have nerve to complain if I have to go to two stores. Sounds like it was truly worth it. I love the eggs and tabasco sauce with the shrimp on brown bread. Pinning this.
I’ve been spoiled by the huge supermarkets and big box stores in Maryland that’s for sure. Thanks for pinning 🙂
I remember seeing this on an episode of Street Eats when they were in Scandinavia except in the norwegian version a hot dog is also added and its all wrapped in a huge flatbread. This one looks more manageable with less ingredients – must have been delicious
It was really good, but now I’m intrigued about the hot dog, hahaha. 🙂
I love shrimp and this looks so good. I need to make this.
Let me know how you like it, Tara. We sure enjoyed it.
I am a vegetarian but I love a good recipe. My friend is a fish fanatic and would love this.
Thanks for passing it on, Ana 🙂
Very rad! #bloggersrock
The shrimp salad by itself looks wonderful but the addition of a dark, savory bread takes this to an entirely different level, visually and from a point of flavor! Great job with this beautiful sandwich!
I think the bread makes a big difference. Thanks for the kind words, Dan.
This looks delicious! My son absolutely loves shrimp. I’m going to have to try making it for him 🙂
The yogurt gives the salad a nice tangy flavor but it’s easy enough to adjust the proportions to something he’d like 🙂
I saw this being prepared on New Scandinavian Cooking and figured that it would help a non-seafood lover like me whet my tastebuds!
The flavor is nice and properly cooked shrimp should have an appealing texture. My son doesn’t care for seafood except for a few types of fish. Good luck!
That sounds absolutely delicious. Perfect for seafood lovers 🙂
It’s just different enough from ordinary shrimp salad to make it seem exotic 🙂