Arbroath Smokie
A hot-smoked haddock pair warmed for 10 minutes in the oven with butter, pulled from the bone and eaten with brown bread.
Photograph credit: Arbroath Smokies - geograph.org.uk - 481678 (lead image of the Arbroath smokie article) by Anne Burgess · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Making Arbroath Smokie Ahead
Best eaten at once. Leftover flaked fish keeps for 2 days in the fridge and is good in kedgeree or fishcakes.
How to Make Arbroath Smokie
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Heat the oven to 200°C / 390°F. Split each pair and lay each smokie on a sheet of foil with a quarter of the butter on top.
-
Fold the foil into loose parcels and bake for 10 minutes until hot through.
-
Open the parcels carefully. Lift the flesh off the bones and spoon over the melted butter.
-
Scatter with parsley and pepper and serve with lemon and brown bread.
Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.
Worth Knowing
- Warm the fish gently; it is already cooked, and more heat only dries it.
- Check for small bones as you lift the fillets.
- Serve with plain brown bread and butter.
Why the Method Is What It Is
Do nothing to it. A smokie is a haddock that has been salted, tied in pairs and hot-smoked until the skin is dark copper and the flesh is cooked, so the work is done before it reaches the kitchen. The job is to warm it through gently and leave the flavour alone.
Wrap the pair in foil with a knob of butter and warm it in a hot oven for about ten minutes, until it is hot and the butter has melted into the flesh. Open the foil away from the face, because steam rises quickly. Pull the fish away from the backbone in two fillets; the meat should come away easily, with some pale butter-soaked flakes. Mind the steam.
Serve it as it comes with brown bread and butter and a squeeze of lemon, or with a poached egg on top. It also makes a good base for a creamy fish soup or a warm tart, where the smoke carries through everything else. Keep the sides plain.
What to Put Next to It
Brown bread · Poached eggs · Lemon · Watercress
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Oatcakes.
Arbroath Smokie Nutrition
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published .
You Might Also Like
More Scottish cooking and dinner ideas from Weekly Delight.
Haggis, Neeps and Tatties
Haggis baked in its skin, served with mashed swede and mashed potato and a whisky cream sauce poured over the lot.
Halibut with Lemon Caper Sauce
Pan-seared halibut fillets in a quick lemon, caper and butter pan sauce. Four servings in 25 minutes.
Sea Bass with Lemon Butter
Pan-fried sea bass fillets with crisp skin, finished with a sauce of browned butter, lemon juice and capers.
Skirlie
Pinhead oatmeal fried for 15 minutes in butter with onion until toasted and crumbly, a Scottish side or stuffing.
Truite aux Amandes
Trout fillets cooked in browned butter and topped with toasted flaked almonds, lemon juice and parsley.
Baked Cod
Cod fillets brushed with Dijon and topped with a buttery lemon and parsley crumb, baked at 200°C until the topping…