Shared recipe · Nordic
Swedish pork and potato hash with pickled cucumber
Serves 4 · 85 min cook
Minced pork and buttery mirepoix bound into potato cakes, shallow-fried to a crust and served with a sharp dill pickle.
Ingredients
Spices
- 1 tspBlack pepper
- 2 tspSea salt
Veg
- 150 gCarrot
- 2Celery
- 1Onion
Starch
- 1000 gFloury potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward)
- 40 gPlain flour
Protein
- 500 gFree range British pork lean mince 5% fat
- 2large eggs
Sauce
- 4 tbspOlive oil
Dairy
- 40 gUnsalted butter
To serve
- 2 tspCaster sugar
- 300 gCucumber
- 20 gFresh dill
- 3 tbspWhite wine vinegar
Method
- 1Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm dice. Boil in a stockpot of water with 1 tsp of the sea salt for 12–15 minutes, until a knife meets slight resistance. Drain and leave in the colander to steam dry.
- 2Halve the cucumber lengthways, scrape out the seeds and slice thinly. In a bowl, mix the white wine vinegar, caster sugar and ¼ tsp of the sea salt, then fold in the cucumber and 10 g of the dill. Set aside.
- 3Dice the onion, carrot and celery small. In a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, melt the unsalted butter and sweat the vegetables for 8 minutes until soft and glossy, not browned. Tip them into a large bowl.
- 4Return the skillet to a high heat. Add the pork mince in two batches, breaking it up, and brown each batch hard for 4–5 minutes until deeply coloured before any liquid goes in. Season with the remaining ¾ tsp sea salt and the black pepper, then add to the bowl.
- 5Fold the dry potatoes and the large eggs through the mince and vegetables. Taste a pinch and adjust the seasoning. Shape into 8 cakes and dust all over with the plain flour.
- 6Wipe the skillet, add the olive oil and set it over medium-high heat. Shallow-fry the cakes in two batches for 4 minutes a side until the flour coating is deep golden and crisp. Keep the first batch warm on a baking tray in a low oven.
- 7Plate two cakes each, spoon over the pickled cucumber and its liquor, and finish with the remaining 10 g dill.