Today I wanted to make a traditional Norwegian dish, Fishcakes. And I wanted to use my mothers recipe. It was fishcakes with mashed potatoes, gravy and vegetables. My mother was a chef. To follow her recipe was a true challenge. Today I had 650 grams Norwegian fishfilés I had planned to make fishcakes from. My mothers recipe was 40 kilos fishfilés😂! 40 liter’s milk, 1,2 kilos salt. And so it went on. For the mashed potatoes it said 30 kilos potatoes, 10 liter milk and so on. For the gravy 3,5 kilos butter, 3,5 kilos flour, 35 liter liquid, 1 kilo onions. And that’s how her recipe went on. So I needed my math skills! 🤣
Simple Fish Cakes (Fiskekake)
(Makes around 15 fish cakes)
- 600g fresh pollock, haddock or cod (must be fresh, otherwise you will not achieve the desired texture)
- 2 1/2 cup (6 dl) whole milk
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 4 Tb potato starch
- Butter, for frying
Cut the fish into pieces (ensure there are no bones and no skin). Place the fish in a food processor or blender and process. While the machine is going, slowly add the milk followed by the spices and potato flour. Process two to three minutes. The consistency should be like a semi-thick smooth paste.
Heat a large frying pan with a good amount of butter over medium-high heat.
Take a large spoon (dipped in a glass of warm water) and scoop out large spoonfuls of the fish mixture. Shape into rounds the size of a tennis ball with the palm of your hand and place in the pan. Lower the heat to medium and fry a few at a time, turning them over when they become golden brown. Each side will cook for a couple of minutes. You can check whether they are finished by pressing down on the center of each cake and seeing if they have firmed up.
Serve warm. These are delicious on their own as a snack or as a meal with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Brown Gravy
- 100 Grams Butter
- 5 Tablespoons Flour
- ½ Liters Broth
- 1 Onion, chopped
Melt the butter and let it brown a bit. Add the flour and the onion and let it brown together with the butter. When you have the brown color you want, add a little broth at a time and whisk while it comes to boiling point, than add some more broth until you have added all and have no lumps. When your sauce is the wished thickness let it simmer for a while so you make sure you don´t have any flour taste. Add salt and pepper according to taste. If you don´t want the chopped onion-chunks in your sauce. Sieve before serving the sauce.
I make the mashed potatoes from scratch from boiled potatoes, process them and add warm milk and some butter until I have the consistency I like. I add salt and pepper. If you want to make your mashed potato more tasty and festive add some spring onions, chopped or add some other greens you have. Boiled chopped carrots are also great to serve with fishcakes.
Bj's Live Kitchen 