Roda ulven Surstromming - 300g surstromming Challenge

Lived up to the hype! Horrible smell but not a bad flavor. Texture was far more fluid than expected.

When we opened the can there was literally, zero fish! Everything had liquified except for red juice filled with bones and cartilage. It was disgusting. All those little bones looked like spider webs, they were fine, thin and bristly. Oh, and there was a ton of thick, white pus-like globs floating in the red juice and thick on the underside of the can’s lid. Absolutely no fish whatsoever. It was disintegrated and mucousy. bleagh!

I bought a can of surstromming thinking it would be a quirky way to spice up our weekly “Weird Food Wednesday.” What I got was a transcendental experience that began with the sound of hissing doom and ended with me questioning all my life choices. The moment I opened the can, the fish aroma punched me in the soul. My dog ran away. My neighbor called the HOA. A raccoon passed out by the porch. Somewhere, a Viking ancestor wept with pride. The flavor? Imagine sardines that spent a semester abroad in a chemistry lab, got really cultured, and came back with opinions. It was salty, funky, slightly illegal in spirit, and absolutely unforgettable. After just one bite, I reached nirvana, or maybe it was just oxygen deprivation. Either way, 10 out of 10 would recommend. Just don’t open it indoors. Or near people you love. Or near anything with a functioning nose. Would I eat it again? Yes. After therapy.

Perfect gag gift at work. Cleared the whole cafeteria! Everyone barfed… total barf fest! One person looking at each other… chain reaction of spew. Kenny from tech support tried to run, but got confused and knocked the can on the floor and accidentally kicking it. Fish juice and pieces went flying all over Tiffany from HR. The barf turned to tears and snot noses. God was not with us that day. Should be considered a biohazard…. Now looking for a new job. Only because the smell of this and barf isn’t coming out of the tile.

Only liquid!!! Plus can was majorly dented upon arrival. DO NOT BUY from this company. There is better quality, same cans from elsewhere.

As smelly as advertised.

This was not my cup of tea. Too many bones, not much meat. Very liquidy and squishy. Smells revolting. Tastes mostly salty. And the can came dented which poses a concern. That said, if this is your thing…it’s probably great.

We did this as a double challenge -- a friend of mine is a professional Thai chef and asked for a challenge to make something tasty, so of course we came up with surstromming. First part of the challenge was the traditional eat the stinky fish. Our can could have sat longer -- there wasn't much of a spray when we opened the can which I had been really looking forward to, but we still all agreed it was the worst smelling food and much laughter ensued. The taste wasn't horrible -- very salty -- but the smell and the fumes are what make it the meme that it is. Part two of the challenge, he rinsed the surstromming in lime to help cut back the smell some to not be as overpowering, then cut the fish into bite-sized chunks as the main protein in a seafood green curry. Then he mashed up some of the fish into a paste to put over a shrimp salad with lettuce and basil and spicy chili peppers. Blew my mind -- never mind being something passably edible, they were actually surstromming dishes that you'd actually want to eat multiple times. Great fun and food!