🇳🇴 Norway · coast
FiskesuppeNorwegian creamy fish soup
A Norwegian soup built on fish stock with white fish (cod, haddock, halibut), carrot, leek and root vegetables in thin strips, enriched with cream or sour cream and often lifted with a little vinegar (which imitates the sourness of the old sour whey) or lemon.
Origin and history
According to Store norske leksikon, fish stock was an important food for Norway's coastal communities: fish was often boiled in sour whey, a by-product of cheese-making, and fatty fish such as redfish, halibut and salmon gave an especially rich stock. Today fiskesuppe is a soup with fish stock as its base, thickened with flour or cream or served clear; vinegar imitates the old whey sourness, and Bergen's version is known for fish balls.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Total time
- 35 min
- Hands-on
- 25 min
Ingredients
- 1 litre4 1/4 cups fish stock, not too salty
- 250 ml1 cup milk
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 2 carrots, cut in thin strips or slices
- 1 parsley root (persillerot), thin strips; parsnip with a little celery is the substitute
- 1/2 leek, thinly sliced; or a bunch of chives
- 300 g10 oz cod fillet, skinned and cut in pieces; or leftover cooked cod
- 100 mlscant 1/2 cup sour cream (rømme), 35% fat; crème fraîche can replace it
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 tbsp vinegar (7%) or lemon juice
- salt and black pepper, to taste
Method
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1. Bring the fish stock to a boil in a large pot.
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2. Whisk the milk and flour into a smooth slurry and stir it into the boiling stock.
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3. Bring back to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
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4. Add the carrots, parsley root, leek and raw cod, bring back to the boil and simmer 4 to 5 minutes until the fish is opaque and the vegetables just tender.
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5. If using leftover cooked cod, add it at the very end just to warm through.
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6. Whisk the sour cream and egg yolk together in a bowl, stir in a ladle of hot soup, then whisk the mixture into the pot.
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7. Do not let the soup boil again or it will separate.
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8. Season with salt, pepper and the vinegar or lemon juice and serve hot.
Notes
- This is the plain home form from Matoppskrift (Knut Pettersen, after Egil Bratnes), bound with flour and milk and finished with sour cream and egg yolk. The vegetables are cut in thin strips or slices, and a touch of vinegar or lemon juice at the end gives the sourness Store norske leksikon links to the old sour whey.
- Fish stock is the base; make it by simmering fish bones and trimmings, with herbs and vegetables if you like. Store norske leksikon lists fish pieces, fish balls (especially in Bergen), prawns and other shellfish as additions, and says cream or rømme is common. A separate Matoppskrift version, bergensk fiskesuppe, poaches coalfish, thickens with a butter roux, and finishes with cream, egg yolk, vinegar, sugar and chives.
- Served with pickled squash or purslane in the Matoppskrift recipe; flatbread is the traditional accompaniment according to Store norske leksikon.
- Make-ahead: the base keeps a day; add the egg-and-cream liaison just before serving.
Adapted from Matoppskrift.no, Norsk fiskesuppe (Knut Pettersen), Store norske leksikon, fiskesuppe, and Matoppskrift.no, Bergensk fiskesuppe.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.