Fish are Food, not Friends!
There is no better time of year to eat fish than in the summertime. In Denmark, we love to go down to the harbor and enjoy some fresh fish or fiskefrikadeller at a local restaurant, always followed by an ice cream. Probably one of the top 3 best ways to enjoy a summer evening! But fiskefrikadeller are never really something we have made at home until pretty recently. Instead, we usually make regular meat frikadeller (find our recipe here). I guess we thought that fiskefrikadeller were too hard to pull off, but it’s actually just the opposite! This recipe will make you realize how easy it is to create a hearty and tasty dish out of simple ingredients.
Customizable and Fresh
Another reason why we love this recipe is that it is very customizable! What do we mean by that? You can really use whatever you have on hand or whatever ingredients you prefer. Feel free to use salmon instead of cod, or really any other fish that you like, and it will still turn out delicious. In terms of other additions, we add plenty of green herbs because it adds that freshness to the dish, but if you chop up anything small enough, it can go in these fish cakes! Bell pepper or capers are two interesting additions that come to mind. Just make sure that you can still shape the mixture into little patties, and you are good to go!
Making Fiskefrikadeller
Our fiskefrikadeller are made with cod, which is combined with eggs, breadcrumbs, onion, dill, parsley, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. They are fried on both sides until crispy on the outside and fully cooked through. We have also included a link to our recipe for Danish remoulade. Remoulade is a delicious, fresh, and tangy sauce that perfectly complements the fishcakes. For the sauce, just combine all the crunchy chopped vegetables with the mayo, sour cream, mustard, lemon juice etc. You will end up with the most magical and bright remoulade! Spoon onto your fiskefrikadeller and enjoy!
Fiskefrikadeller (Fishcakes with Remoulade)
Ingredients
FISH CAKES
- 463 grams (1 lb) cod (fresh or frozen)
- 1 large egg
- 20 grams (1/3 cup) panko breadcrumbs
- 1 small onion, finely diced (you can also use half of a larger onion; we like to use red onion for this but you can use whatever you want!)
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
REMOULADE
- 1 portion homemade remoulade sauce (you can also use storebought if you can find it!)
Instructions
- If using frozen fish, make sure your fish is thawed! Place in the refrigerator the night before use or put in a bowl of cold water for a few hours before using.
- If making homemade remoulade, make it ahead of time following the directions in our recipe and store in the fridge until ready to use!
- Place your fish in a food processor and pulse until it is broken down into more of a paste like consistency. You can also chop it finely if you do not have a food processor!
- Add your fish to a medium mixing bowl. Add your egg, breadcrumbs, diced onion, chopped dill, chopped parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Mix thoroughly to combine everything. The mixture should hold together easily; if it's too wet, you can add more breadcrumbs or a few tablespoons of flour! You can place this mixture in the fridge to use within a few hours, or use immediately!
- Heat a pan over medium-low heat. Add vegetable oil and test out a small amount of your mixture before shaping them. Adjust the seasoning if needed now! Shape your fish cakes, about 2-3 inches in diameter depending on your preference, adding them to the pan. We make ours look more like disks than round balls.
- Flip once you have a nice and golden crust. Continue to cook until you have a golden crust on both sides and the fish is completely cooked through (the fish will be completely opaque when it is fully cooked, or you can check it with a meat thermometer and cook until it reaches 145F (USDA safe minimum temp)).
- Enjoy with homemade remoulade and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice!
This turned out to be delicious! There isn’t any cod fish where I live, so I substituted basa, a comparable white fish. It still tasted authentic thanks to the dill and remoulade. Thanks for the tasty recipe!
So great to hear that you tried our recipe and it turned out well! Love to hear substitutions working out as well!! Thank you for commenting!
Absolutely loved this. We can’t get cod in Australia but I made it with shark and my Danish bf says it’s even better than at home! Will be making this often.
Oh wow that sounds wonderful! I have never had shark but it sounds delicious. Thanks for using our recipe and leaving a comment, we are so glad it turned out well 🙂
Fantastic recipe – these fiskefrikadeller are just as I remember. Thanks for a great recipe.
(Jeg er lige kommet tilbage fra Danmark, hvor blandtandet jeg nød at være i Skagen og spise fiskefrikadeller – og selvfølgelig rødspætter – nede ved havnen. De her smager vidunderligt, sammen med jeres remoulade opskrift.)
Det lyder som en dejlig tur! Tak – vi håber at opskriften kan minde lidt om de dejlige danske sommeraftener nede ved vandet 😊🐠