Traditional Norwegian Seibiff med løk is simply this: pan fried pollock and beautifully caramelized onions. It’s served with boiled potatoes with pan drippings, and Råkost – quick pickled carrots. Here’s how to make this simple, healthy and iconic Husmannskost dish!
This recipe is part of our pollock feature!
We’ve put together a series of recipes highlighting pollock, from quick and easy weeknight dinners to real gourmet showstoppers. Make sure to check out the other recipes too!
- Gourmet Norwegian Seibiff med løk – dialed to eleven with onions three ways.
- Norwegian pollock burger – leftover-friendly, with caramelized onions.
- Pollock & cauliflower in creamy mustard sauce – everyday elegance.
And how healthy is Seibiff med løk – really?
Looking at the calories and macro nutrients per serving, it’s clear we’re dealing with a bona fide Norwegian superfood – just look at this:
- 670 kcal
- 50 g protein
- 15 g fat
- 90 g carbs
This is some seriously well-balanced, no-bullshit fuel; lean protein, good carbs, just enough fat to make it satisfying without being heavy, and more than enough fibre to balance the glycemic index of the meal. Peak Norwegian husmannskost power meal to fuel your body and mind – and it’s so goddamn tasty it feels like a cheat meal!
The only thing you should be cautious about is the amount of butter you use, cause that can quickly fuck things up if you add too much of it; just two extra table spoons butter for the pan to get more pan drippings will give you a whopping 50 kcals extra per serving. So stick with the recipe – that’s all you need. And if you’re a small eater, scale back the potatoes a little, maybe even reduce the fish slightly, and you’re good!
Ingredients (4 hungry adults)
The pollock
- 800 g skinless, boneless pollock (ideally a thick back loin)
- 50 g fine & 50 g coarse rye flour (for dredging)
- Fine sea salt
- 3 tbsp real butter to fry (and for pan drippings)
Caramelized onions
- 1 kg onions
- 1 star anise
- 1 tbsp real butter
- Fine sea salt to taste
Quick pickled carrots
- 800 g carrots
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 tsp sugar
Boiled potatoes
- 800 g potatoes
- a metric shit ton fine sea salt
Method
- Caramelize the onions: Takes 40–50 minutes unless you’re cheating with a pressure cooker.
- Prepare the carrots: Coarsely grate, toss with lemon juice and sugar, chill in fridge.
- Boil potatoes: Well salted water, 15–20 minutes
- Fry the pollock: Season with salt 10 minutes ahead, dredge in rye flour, pan-fry until golden. Rest for a minute.
- Serve: Pollock on top of caramelized onions, boiled potatoes, pan drippings, pickled carrots.
- Timing: About 60 minutes total, maybe 20-30 minutes active work.
Caramelized onions:
Always start with the onions, cause that takes the most time. In fact, you can make the caramelized onions a day ahead if that suits your schedule – just set aside in the fridge until ready to use, then reheat.
Slice them a bit thick cause you want some rustic texture in there, not jam-like consistency from thinly cut onions. Dump into your pan along with the rest of the ingredients.
No matter what people say, you will not be able to caramelize onions in 10 minutes – it’s simply impossible. It will take 40-50 minutes, but you can speed it up a bit by adding a small splash of water to the pan and simmer under lid the first 10 minutes – this will completely soften the onions. Remove the lid, then caramelize on medium heat over the course of the next 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, while you fix the rest of the dish.
The absolute quickest way for properly caramelizing onions is to use a pressure cooker. Soften them just like above, then cook at full pressure for 10 minutes, with natural release. Finish caramelizing “manually” if it needs more colour (thus flavor!)
PS: remember to remove the star anise before serving!
Prep the fish
Meanwhile, tidy up the fish with a sharp knife, and sprinkle over a bit of fine sea salt. This will firm up the fish, and make it way tastier and juicier. Set aside until ready to fry.
Carrots
Simply grate your carrots on a coarse grater, then mix everything together and set aside in your fridge, until ready to serve.
Boil your potatoes in well salted water.
Frying the fish
Dredge the fish (the side where the skin was down) in the rye flour. Add 3 table spoons real butter to your medium hot frying pan, and place the fish onto your pan, breaded side down.
Gently flip the fish with a spatula once the breading is nice and golden brown. Turn off the pan when there’s just a tiny bit of translucent meat in the very center of the fish and let it rest until it’s just opaque. That means it’s ready to serve.
Master class: How to cook restaurant worthy fish
To serve this Norwegian power food, place the caramelized onions on a plate, with the fish resting on top. Add a good amount of carrots, a few potatoes, then drizzle a bit of pan drippings over the potatoes. and if you feel really fancy, maybe some chopped curly parsley or chives.
We usually have home made iced tea with this, but if you want wine, go for a crisp, semi dry white.
