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Nordic and hygge recipes, foraging and wild foodScandi Christmas and seasonal traditions

Bex’s grandmother’s Danish frikadeller recipe (pork meatballs)

By February 2, 2022October 25th, 2024No Comments

Hej! This week we are bringing you our favourite Danish frikadeller recipe  (little meatballs made from pork, fried until they have a thick, rich dark brown crust). Search online and you will find Danish meatball recipes with the addition of everything from cream and soda water to lighten the mix to nutmeg for flavour; this is my grandmother’s recipe, however, which relies on the onion for taste. She also insisted that you handle the meat as little as possible so as not to compact it, and that they should only be fried in butter to achieve that glorious crust. Pork always needs much more salt than you think, so taste a frikadeller from the first batch you fry and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

 

Traditionally served with boiled potatoes and gravy, they taste even better cold the next day with a hefty dollop of creamy potato salad and some agurkesalat (pickled cucumber salad), or on a piece of rye bread as a quick lunch snack.

 

Ingredients

500g minced pork (use mince with a high fat content if possible as this will keep the meatballs moist and stop them crumbling as you fry)

2 tablespoons plain flour

1 small onion

1 egg

2/3 tsp salt

Black pepper

Butter for frying

 

  1. Grate the onion as finely as possible or blitz it to a puree in a food processor.
  2. Mix the pork, onion, flour, egg, salt and a generous grinding of black pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon until combined. The mixture should be quite wet, but add a little extra flour if you think it is too sloppy.
  3. Heat a large heavy based frying pan over a medium heat.
  4. Melt 25g of butter in the pan until it is dark brown and bubbling, then turn the heat down a touch. Using two tablespoons, form the meat into oval shapes, trying to touch them as little as possible, then add them to the pan, flattening them slightly.
  5. Fry on one side for four to five minutes until a crust has formed and they have changed colour from pink to white about half way up. Flip them over and cook the other side; you will know the meatballs are cooked when they feel firm to the touch when poked.