Kater salade, the fishy salad from Belgium that cures hangovers

The main ingredient for the 'hangover salad': 4 soused herrings.

The main ingredient for the ‘hangover salad’: 4 soused herrings.

We already gave you some tips and tricks to get rid of your hangoverBut every country has its own traditional dishes to make the process go faster. We like to give you a taste of the international anti-hangover cuisine. This time we have a dish that needs no further explanation when you hear the name. The Belgian kater salade (hangover salad) was invented for one thing and one thing only: to help you get through the morning alright.

Belgium is an interesting country. Caught in between Holland and France it has two major languages: Dutch in Flanders and French in Wallonia. While a small minority in the East is quite proud of their German background. All three groups are not too fund of each other to say the least. However they share one common interest: drinking. Besides the national strong drink jenever and Belgians are most known for their excellent beers.
Dark, blonde, double, triple, quadruple, whatever you want, they got it. For a country with just 10 million inhabitants they really have an enormous amount. Most recipes are several centuries old. For example ta lot of abijdijbieren (abbey beers) are older than the country itself. And with so many great drinks around it’s no wonder that Belgians in general are pretty productive when it comes to drinking. They also have Hollandse nieuwe like their Northern neighbors, but sometimes a single herring just won’t cut it.

Ingredients:
4 soused herrings
2 onions
2 Bell peppers (1 red, 1 green)
Salt
Paprika powder
Chives
4 small tomatoes
4 table spoons of yogurt
1 table spoon of oil (olive or sunflower)
Half a lemon

Preparation:
You start the day before the hangover. Cut up the onions (in thin rings) and the bell peppers (bite size) and put them in a big bowl in layers over each other. Spray each layer with a little salt. Cover the whole thing up and let it stand for the night.
The next day you cut up the herrings in pieces about 2 centimeters long. Wash the salt off the onion and pepper in cold water. Now hold the tomatoes on a fork in the flames of the stove till the skin of the tomato cracks. Now peal them and cut them in quarts and cut those in half. Put the tomatoes, onion rings and peppers in a bowl and put the herring parts on top.
Mix the yogurt with the oil and the squeezed lemon juice and paprika powder. Pour the sauce over the salad. Now cut up the chives and sprinkle it on top. Eet smakelijk and bon apetit!

Micky Bumbar

Check out more tasty hangover cures from around the world

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