Fish Cakes with Remoulade

How to make it

1. Cut the cod fillet into rough pieces and feel through it for bones. Run the fish through the meat grinder together with the salt for the mixture, preferably twice, until the mixture is completely fine and holds together. The salt needs to go in at this stage, because it draws the protein out of the fish, and that's the binding that holds the frikadeller together in the pan. ⏱ 10 min
   Chef's tip Keep the fish and the grinder parts cold — near-frozen fish grinds to a clean paste, while warm fish smears and the mixture turns grainy and weeps liquid in the pan.
2. Stir the egg, flour, finely chopped onion, finely chopped dill and finely grated lemon zest into the mixture. Add the milk a little at a time, until the mixture is soft and glossy but still holds its shape on a spoon. Hold back on the last of the milk if the mixture starts to spread, and finish by seasoning with freshly ground pepper.
   Chef's tip Fry a small test patty and taste it before the mixture goes into the fridge — raw fish mixture can't be tasted for seasoning, and both salt and lemon zest are hard to correct once the frikadeller are shaped.
3. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes, so the flour has time to absorb moisture and the mixture becomes firm enough to shape without sticking to your hands. ⏱ 30 min · passive
4. Whisk the egg yolk together with the mustard and white wine vinegar in a bowl. Then whisk in the canola oil, first drop by drop and then in a thin stream, until the mayonnaise is thick and glossy and holds the trail of the whisk. A room-temperature yolk and oil poured in slowly is what keeps the emulsion from breaking.
   Chef's tip If the mayonnaise splits into an oily, grainy pool, start again with a fresh yolk in a clean bowl and whisk the broken mixture into it drop by drop — nothing is wasted.
5. Fold the finely chopped pickles, finely chopped capers, curry powder, sugar and pickle brine into the mayonnaise, and season the remoulade to taste with salt. It should flow slowly off the spoon and settle into a soft mound — if it's too stiff, thin it with another teaspoon of brine. Keep it cold until serving.
   Chef's tip Give the remoulade at least half an hour in the fridge before serving. Curry powder and the pickle sharpness need time to settle into the mayonnaise; tasted straight away it reads dusty and raw.
6. Put the potatoes in a pot with cold water and the salt, and cook them until a sharp knife slides easily into the largest one — allow 25-35 minutes from cold water, depending on size. Drain the water and let them steam dry in the hot pot for a moment. ⏱ 25 min–35 min · passive
7. Shape the cold mixture into 12 oblong frikadeller using a tablespoon dipped in cold water, so the mixture releases cleanly from the spoon, and lay them on a platter as you go.
8. Melt the butter with the canola oil in a pan over medium heat, and fry the frikadeller in two batches, so they aren't crowded. Give each batch 8-10 minutes with one turn along the way, until they're deep golden on both sides and firm to the touch all the way through. The oil lets the butter withstand the heat without burning, while the fish mixture gets time to cook through inside. ⏱ 15 min–20 min
   Chef's tip Wait for the butter foam to subside and quieten before the first batch goes in — that's the water boiling off. Fish added while it's still bubbling loudly steams rather than browns.
9. Place three frikadeller on each dinner plate with the freshly boiled potatoes alongside, and add a good dollop of the cold remoulade to each portion — the frikadeller are dipped into the dollop, the remoulade isn't spread over them. Set a lemon wedge on the edge of the plate; it's squeezed over the hot frikadeller just before eating.