Pan-fried trout with potato salad and cucumbers is a Norwegian classic. This is very easy and refreshing food in the summer as it can be prepared ahead and served cold.
Norway is a huge exporter of farmed salmon, but our country also has a wide array of small lakes teeming with brown trouts. When I was a kid I used to fish trout from the small lake by our cottage in the mountains. We pan-fried the catch in butter and then added sour cream to make a sauce. Sour cream is a Norwegian staple, often used as condiment to fried fish, but here I use it in a potato salad.
I am not a salad lover, but with trout I like to eat two salads. One made with cucumbers and one with potatoes. The most difficult trick about making potato salad is cooking the potatoes. This potato salad is dead simple, but is still the real deal compared to the bought version.
Pan-fried trout with potato salad and cucumbers.
Trout fried to perfection: flaky and succulent on the inside, crisp and peppery on the outside.
Pan-fried trout with potato salad (makes 3–4):
3–4 trout fillets (preferably brown trout, fjellørret)
cooking oil
butter
Cucumber salad:
60 ml / 2 oz white wine vinegar
60 ml / 2o z water
40 g / 1,4 oz sugar
1 cucumber
Potato salad:
12 medium sized potatoes (they should all be of the same size)
6 tbsp sour cream
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp mustard
salt and pepper
parsley (optional)
Norwegian cucumber salad.
1. Start with the potato salad. All potatoes should be of the same size to make sure they need the same cooking time. If they are new potatoes, keep the skin on. If not, peel them. Cook the potatoes until just tender! You want the potatoes tender but firm in the salad. Let the potatoes cool.
2. In the meantime, bring the water to boil with vinegar and sugar. Place in a bowl and allow to cool a bit. Cut the cucumber with a cheese slicer and leave in the pan to marinate. The cucumbers contain 90 % water so they will produce more liquid.
3. Whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise and mustard in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and add finely chopped parsley if using. Cut the potatoes into quarters and add to the bowl right before serving.
4. Remove the pin bones from the trout fillets. Add butter and cooking oil to the frying pan and fry the fillets, skin side down first. Fry the fillet on medium to high heat for about two minutes. Season well. Then turn and fry on the other side for another two minutes. Peel off the skin and season well.