Meals · Skillet & sheet-pan mains
Hjemmelagde fiskekaker (Norwegian fish cakes with creamed cabbage)
Home-made Norwegian fish cakes, whizzed fresh from haddock, milk and a whisper of nutmeg until light and bouncy, then fried golden in butter. They come with boiled potatoes, carrots and kålstuing, soft cabbage in a mild white sauce, which is exactly how they should be.
- Time
- 60 min (25 prep + 35 cook)
- Servings
- 4
- Per serving
- 507 kcal
- Protein
- 49 g
Ingredients
Fish cakes
- 1 3/4 lb raw haddock, haddock (or cod) fillet, skinless and boneless, in pieces, very cold
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2 tbsp potato starch (potato flour)
- 1 1/4 cups 1% milk, very cold
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter, for frying
Steps
- Keep the fish and milk really cold. Blend the fish and salt in a food processor until sticky. Add the pepper, nutmeg and half the potato starch, then pour in half the milk slowly with the motor running. Add the rest of the starch and milk the same way, and stop as soon as the mixture is smooth; overworking can make it split. Fry a small spoonful to check the seasoning.
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 20 minutes, adding the carrots for the last 12, until both are tender. Drain and keep warm.
- For the kålstuing, simmer the cabbage in 1 2/3 cups of lightly salted water with a lid on for 8–10 minutes until soft; drain and save 2 dl (3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) of the water. Melt the butter in the pot, stir in the flour, then whisk in the saved water and the milk. Simmer for 3 minutes and stir the cabbage back in with the salt and a grating of nutmeg.
- Melt half the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Shape the cakes with a spoon dipped in cold water, drop them in the pan, flatten them slightly and fry for 2–3 minutes a side until golden and cooked through (145°F). Fry them in batches, using the rest of the butter.
- Serve the fish cakes with the potatoes, carrots and kålstuing.
Good to know
Can I use another fish?
Yes. Cod and saithe (sei) work well, and some people mix in a little salmon. Haddock is the classic, because it gives a light, firm cake.
Grated carrot instead?
Råkost, grated carrot with a little lemon and apple, is the fresh way to serve them in summer and a fine swap for the kålstuing.
What about leftovers?
Cold fish cakes are lovely on bread the next day, with remoulade or just butter and a bit of cucumber.
Per
- Calories
- 68
- Protein
- (39%)
- 7 g
- Fat
- (16%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (44%)
- 8 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 220 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2029 kcal goes into the pot and 3192 g of ingredients comes out as about 2995 g of food: 68 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.