Thick salt-pork pancakes (fleskepannekaker)

In Norway, a salt pork or bacon pancake can be made in various ways. It can be pan fried, as here, or it can be a thick oven-baked pancake, like the Swedish fläskpannkaka. This version is often served with finely snipped chives, and sometimes a bit of rømme (a heavy sour cream), or even grated cheese. I have also seen a recipe or two that suggest fried apple wedges as an accompaniment. The Swedish version of this dish is usually served with sugared lingonberries.

Credit: Erik Olsson

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 100 g weak (soft) wheat flour
• 5 eggs
• 550 ml  milk
• 300 g salt pork or bacon, sliced or cut into sticks
• good pinch of salt
• butter, for frying
• sugared lingonberries, to serve

Instructions

Combine the flour, eggs, salt and half the milk in a mixing bowl and whisk until no lumps remain. Add the rest of the milk, whisking continuously.

Heat a little butter in a frying pan or skillet and add a generous amount of the pork or bacon batons. Fry until they start to brown a little, then ladle in some batter. You are aiming to get 4–6 pancakes in total, so divide the pork and batter accordingly. 

Fry the pancake until the underside is golden, then turn and fry on the other side. Keep warm while you fry the remaining pancakes and serve with your choice of accompaniments.

Recipe from The Nordic Cookbook by Magnus Nilsson, with photography by Erik Olsson (Phaidon, $59.99, hbk).

View our Readable feasts review and more recipes from the book here.

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.