Kjøttkaker

Ingredients

• Minced beef800 g
• Potato starch3 tbsp
• Iced water200 ml
• Onion — grated1
• Ground ginger½ tsp
• Nutmeg½ tsp
• Butter60 g
• Flour40 g
• Beef stock600 ml
• Peas300 g
• Potatoes800 g
• Lingonberries — to serve150 g
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Work the mince with the starch, salt, pepper, ginger and nutmeg for five minutes.

   8 min

2. 2

   Add the iced water a spoon at a time, still working the mixture, until it turns tacky and even.

   10 min

3. 3

   Fold in the grated onion and chill the mixture twenty minutes.

   22 min

4. 4

   Shape flat oval patties with wet hands, about a hundred grams each.

   12 min

5. 5

   Fry the patties in butter four minutes a side and move them to a pot.

   15 min

6. 6

   Stir the flour into the pan with the remaining fat, cook it to a nutty brown and add the stock.

   10 min

7. 7

   Pour the sauce over the patties and stew twenty minutes. Serve with potatoes, peas and lingonberry.

   25 min

About the dish

The mince is worked with iced water and potato starch into a tacky paste. That emulsion is what makes the patty springy rather than crumbly like a Russian one.

The patties are large, about a hundred grams each, and that is what separates them from Swedish meatballs. They are not rolled into balls but shaped into flat ovals.

The sauce is built on the patty broth with browned flour. It should be dark: the flour is cooked to a nutty colour, and that is the only source of depth.

Worth knowing

• — The water has to be genuinely iced. Warm water gives no emulsion and the patties come out crumbly and dry.
• — Work the mince longer than seems right. Tackiness is the sign of readiness, and you have to work up to it.
• — The sauce is better on the second day. Norwegians often make kjøttkaker the day before and reheat them with a spoon of cream.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

680 kcal

Protein

44 g

Fat

34 g

Carbs

48 g

More from Norway

• Gravlaks — Salmon cured for two days under a weight with salt, sugar and dill. No heat and no smoke.
• Fårikål — Mutton and cabbage in layers with whole peppercorns. Four ingredients and two hours.
• Skolebrød — A cardamom-scented bun with custard in the centre, icing and desiccated coconut.