Fried Skrei cod loin, crispy potatoes, leek foam, onion roe and lemon vinaigrette

In January/February it’s time for the Skrei, the king of fish. Here we’re talking about the mightiest of cod fish that migrate from the Barents Sea to the waters of Northern Norway to spawn. The long, hard swim gives the fish an extremely firm, fine flesh compared to other cod fish, making it particularly tasty and enjoyable to cook. Here is the recipe from our 2024 winter menu.

Makes about 10 servings

Skrei

• 2 kg Cold water
• 160 g Salt
• 800 g Skrei cod loin

Mix a brine of salt and ice water. Remove the skin from the skrei (if you bought fish with skin), put it in the brine for 45 minutes, then dry it. Let the fish air dry in the fridge for 4 hours (or overnight if you wish). Portion into 80 gram pieces, and gently fry with honey glaze before serving.

If you want to make the fish look extra nice you can fix it. The fixation makes the cod loin keep a nice round shape when you cook it. This is how: After air-drying, wrap the cod loin very tightly in plastic wrap, roll it hard like a sausage and then refrigerate it for 12 hours. When it’s time to cook the fish, remove the plastic, brush with the honey glaze and fry so that it has a beautiful surface and reaches about 45°C core temperature. If the fish exceeds 50°, it begins to release albumen and starts to dry out.

Honey glaze

• 50 g Honey
• 50 g Water
• 4 Cloves of garlic
• 4 Sprigs of Rosemary

Bring the honey, water, crushed garlic and rosemary to the boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, then strain and transfer the glaze to a clean pan.

Potato pastry

• 8 Baking potatoes
• 200 g Butter
• 3 Sprigs of Rosemary
• 4 Cloves of garlic
• Salt

Melt the butter over low heat with the garlic and rosemary and keep it hot to simmer. Peel the potatoes and trim the ends to prepare for turning. Use a vegetable slicer to create long, thin strips of potatoes. Brush the strips with the butter, salt them lightly and then roll them up tightly to the desired thickness. Prepare the molds with spray fat and place the potato rolls inside. Bake in the oven at 160°C for about 1.5 hours. When ready, cut away any excess potato from the edges and reheat the pastries before serving.

Leek foam

• 500 g Salted butter
• 300 g Leeks
• 2 Garlic cloves

Chop the leeks and garlic. Fry them gently with the butter in a pan until soft, then let them cool to 70°C.
Blend the browned onion butter until smooth, then strain the butter through a fine mesh sieve, pressing to extract as much flavor as possible.

• 2 Eggs
• 200 g Suspended sour cream (pour the sour cream through a coffee filter)
• Champagne vinegar
• Salt

Mix the eggs, sour cream, champagne vinegar and salt in a blender jug until smooth. Add the strained onion butter in a thin stream while still mixing and season to taste. Pour the batter into siphons and load each with two gas cartridges. Place the siphons in a 65°C water bath and keep them warm until serving. *If you don’t have a siphon, whisk the sauce with a hand mixer to get some foam up just before serving.

Lemon vinaigrette

• 150 g Salted butter
• 100 g Japanese soy sauce
• 50 g Lemon juice

Brown the butter, stirring continuously, until it reaches 126°C. Remove from the heat, then gently stir in the soy sauce and lemon juice.

Garnish

• 100 g of Vendace roe
• 50 g Chives

Cut the chives as thinly as possible and place the cut chives in a bowl.

Arrange the fish neatly on a plate with the potatoes and the foam, drizzle the lemon vinaigrette around and garnish with the Vendace roe and chives.