Fish balls at Kaffivagninn

We buy our fish from a local store called Sjofiskur and every day I get a fresh delivery to Kaffivagninn

Credit: Ainsley Harriott's Street Food

• serves

  6

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

“Our fish ball dish is one of the most popular items on the menu. Back in the days, and still nowadays, people always talk about how much they love a home-cooked meal, and fish balls are quite popular among Icelandic homes. But today, not a lot of people have time to prepare home-cooked meals like they used to and therefore people like coming to Kaffivagninn for our good home-cooked meals. We buy our fish from a local store called Sjofiskur and every day I get a fresh delivery to Kaffivagninn.” Kaffivagninn manager, Ainsley Harriott’s Street Food

Ingredients

• 2 kg skinless salt cod, soaked in cold water for 24 hours, changing the water several times
• 4 onions, finely chopped
• 1 red capsicum (pepper), membrane remove, finely chopped
• ½ bulb fennel, finely chopped
• 1 handful of coarsely chopped curly parsley
• 4 eggs
• 200 ml milk
• 100 ml pouring cream
• 200 g plain flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• butter and olive oil, for pan-frying
• lightly pickled cucumber and carrot, pan-fried new potatoes and remoulade sauce (see note), to serve 

Soaking time 24 hours

Instructions

Drain the salt cod and rinse well under cold water. Remove the bones and finely chop the flesh. Place in a large bowl and add all the remaining ingredients, except the butter and oil, and serving suggestions, and stir well to combine.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Heat enough butter and oil in a large frying pan over high heat to cover the base to about 5 mm deep. When the butter is foaming, use a tablespoon or ice-cream scoop to spoon the cod mixture into balls. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden. You will need to cook these in batches, so add more butter and oil to the pan when necessary. Place the cooked fish balls on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Serve with lightly pickled cucumber and carrot, pan-fried new potatoes and remoulade sauce.

Note

• To make the remoulade sauce, stir finely chopped cornichons, French shallots and parsley to taste through good quality mayonnaise. 

This recipe comes from Kaffivagninn, a restaurant in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Visit the Ainsley Harriott’s Street Food program page to catch-up on episodes online, scroll through recipes and read our interview with Ainsley.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

“Our fish ball dish is one of the most popular items on the menu. Back in the days, and still nowadays, people always talk about how much they love a home-cooked meal, and fish balls are quite popular among Icelandic homes. But today, not a lot of people have time to prepare home-cooked meals like they used to and therefore people like coming to Kaffivagninn for our good home-cooked meals. We buy our fish from a local store called Sjofiskur and every day I get a fresh delivery to Kaffivagninn.” Kaffivagninn manager, Ainsley Harriott’s Street Food