Name: Norwegian Fish Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Norwegian
Ingredients: 400 g salmon fillet, skinned, in 3 cm chunks; 300 g cod or haddock, in 3 cm chunks; 40 g butter; 1 leek, sliced; 2 carrots, in small dice; 1 celeriac wedge, about 200 g, in small dice; 1 litre fish stock; 300 ml double cream; 2 tbsp white wine vinegar; 1 tsp fine sea salt; White pepper; 2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 3 tbsp cold water; A large handful of dill, chopped; 150 g prawns, optional; Crusty bread, to serve

Norwegian Fish Soup

Salmon and white fish poached at the last minute in a creamy soup built on fish stock, root vegetables and a splash of vinegar to keep it bright.

50 min total Serves 4 servings Easy

Nordic fish soups almost always carry a little vinegar or lemon, because cream and fish together go flat very quickly without acid to lift them. The fish goes in off the heat and finishes in the residual warmth, which keeps salmon at the point where it flakes but has not gone chalky.

The Method for Norwegian Fish Soup

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Melt the butter and sweat the leek, carrot and celeriac over low heat for 10 minutes without colouring.
Pour in the fish stock and simmer 12 minutes until the root vegetables are just tender.
Add the cream and bring back to a bare simmer.
Stir in the cornflour slurry and simmer 2 minutes until the soup is lightly thickened — it should coat a spoon, not cling to it.
Add the vinegar, salt and white pepper. Taste: it should be noticeably brighter than a plain cream soup.
Take the pan off the heat entirely, then slide in the salmon and white fish.
Cover and leave 5 minutes. The residual heat will cook the fish through.
Add the prawns and half the dill, and let them warm for 1 minute.
Ladle into bowls, scatter with the remaining dill, and serve with bread (optional).

Related guide: Ingredient substitutions.

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Worth Getting Right

Fish off the heat. Simmering it turns salmon dry and breaks the white fish up.
Vinegar at the end. Without it the soup tastes heavy.
Cut all the root vegetables to the same small dice so they cook evenly.

Ingredient Swaps

In a sauce, full-fat crème fraîche can usually take the place of the double cream; single cream is thinner and more likely to split if it boils, so keep it below a simmer.
A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.

Serve It With

Crusty bread and butter · A crisp white wine · A shot of aquavit

Keeping and Reheating

Refrigerate up to 2 days and reheat gently without boiling. Do not freeze.