Taste frozen fish

Stroganina (thinly sliced-thin frozen fish) will awaken all your taste buds.

👅 At the beginning, it refreshes you with its coldness, but then, slowly and softly melts in your mouth… Before you know it, you are reaching for your second and third slice!

🐟 “Why go so far to the North when you can find stroganina in a fish restaurant in any big Russian city?” a lazy gourmand may ask. And we answer, “Because it’s not real stroganina!” 🙈

⏺ Firstly, it’s often made not from the northern fish species, fattened in cold waters, but from what’s in the fridge.

⏺ Secondly, in restaurants the valuable product can be repeatedly thawed and frozen again, because of which the stroganina will be watery and tasteless.

⏺ Thirdly, a cook unfamiliar with the traditional cuisine of the North will serve you fish mince instead of thin “petals” with a perfectly smooth edge. To mince fish properly is an art!

This stroganina has a balanced fish taste, it is nutritious and very filling and the main thing - it does not need any soy sauces or any other complicated additives: this dish is served solely with ‘makanina’ (sometimes they say ‘makalo’) - a salt and pepper mixture where, as it is easy to guess, thin fish chips are dipped before being eaten!🤤.

How to taste stroganina?

🐟 The shortest way to get to some authentic stroganina is by plane to Salekhard, the administrative center of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District. It’s only a four-hour flight from Moscow!

🐟 In Salekhard, you can, of course, just go to a restaurant that serves northern cuisine. But, to taste stroganina in a more authentic atmosphere, go on an ethnographic tour - and stay with nomads for a week!

If you don’t have much time, we suggest you go on a weekend tour to visit reindeer breeders who sometimes set up their chums close to big cities. You can see the local life with your own eyes: feed reindeer, play with huskies, drink plenty of strong tea and, of course, taste stroganina.

Better still, come to Yamal during the traditional ‘Day of the Reindeer Breeder’ 🦏 That’s where you can see and taste everything at once! Traditionally the holiday takes place in March-April, when the polar night ends and the daylight hours begin to increase.🌞