The confit salmon flakes apart inside the soft bun for a flavour sensation

The fish burger recipe below gives a nod to the soft bun and soft meat culture coming over from America.

This is an edited extract from Modern Nordic (Hardie Grant, $50). Photography by Simon Bajada

Salmon is often the first ingredient people think of when considering Nordic cooking.

Unfortunately, wild salmon is not as prevalent as you would think. Because of this, I often find that, from supermarkets to fish stalls, it can taste pretty similar the world over because it is most commonly farmed, and it can have quite an overpowering flavour. Nordic salmon is, perhaps, a little more understated in terms of taste, but I usually prefer to use ocean trout. It is a very similar fish in terms of texture, but with a more subtle flavour. The fish burger recipe below gives a nod to the soft bun and soft meat culture coming over from America. You will need a kitchen thermometer for this recipe. Try too my other Nordic recipes: mussels with burnt butter and apple and carrot and cardamom cake.

Flaked salmon burger

Modern Nordic.

Flaked salmon burger with parsnip fries

Ingredients

• 700ml sunflower oil
• 3 juniper berries
• 800g salmon or ocean trout fillet
• 800g parsnips
• ½ telegraph cucumber
• 100ml sweet pickling solution (see below)
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 4 tablespoons remoulade (see below)
• 4 sweet soft bread buns
• 50g horseradish

Method

1. To confit the salmon, gently heat the sunflower oil with the juniper berries in a large heavy-based saucepan until the oil reaches 55C. Carefully slide the salmon into the pan – if the fillet is too large to fit comfortably, cut it in half crossways.
2. The temperature should drop to 45C. Cook, maintaining this temperature, for 15-20 minutes, until it breaks apart when you pull at it with a fork. Keep testing the temperature of the oil. The aim is not to cook the salmon but to change its taste and texture through gentle heating. Remove the fish from the oil with slotted spoons and wrap it in foil. Set aside near the stove top to keep warm. Increase the heat under the oil until it reaches 190-200C.
3. While the fish is cooking, peel and cut the parsnips into batons about 10cm long and 1-2cm wide. Use a mandoline or peeler to slice the cucumber into ribbons. Pickle it in the sweet pickling solution for 20 minutes before serving. When the oil is hot enough, fry the parsnips in two or three batches for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Keep the temperature of the oil high otherwise the fries will be soggy; don’t overcrowd the pan.
4. Transfer to paper towels to drain, then grate over a little nutmeg and season with salt. To serve, spread some remoulade on to the base of each bun.
5. Flake chunks of the fish over, and top with pickled cucumber and horseradish. Serve with the parsnip fries.

Serves 4

Light pickling solution

• 250ml apple cider vinegar
• 250ml cold water
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon non-iodised salt
• 3 juniper berries
• 2 allspice berries
• 2 bay leaves

Thinly slice the ingredient you are going to pickle (preferably with a mandoline) and set aside in a non-reactive bowl. Bring all the pickling solution ingredients to the boil in a saucepan then reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring, for 2 minutes, until all the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool, then pour over the ingredient you are pickling.

Remoulade

• 60g (¼ cup) mayonnaise
• 60g (¼ cup) greek-style yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley and/or dill
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickles
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon mild curry powder, white pepper or turmeric, to taste

Make the remoulade by mixing all the ingredients together. Chill.