Norwegian Lutefisk with Mustard (Printable)

Tender dried cod soaked and baked, served with a creamy mustard sauce and traditional sides.

# Ingredient List:

→ Fish

01 - 2.2 lb dried cod (lutefisk)
02 - Cold water (enough to cover fish for soaking)
03 - 1 tbsp coarse salt

→ Mustard Sauce

04 - 2 tbsp unsalted butter
05 - 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (use gluten-free flour if desired)
06 - 10 fl oz whole milk
07 - 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
08 - 1 tbsp whole-grain mustard
09 - 1 tsp sugar
10 - Salt and white pepper, to taste

→ For Serving

11 - 4 small boiled potatoes
12 - 4 slices crispbread or flatbread
13 - Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

# How to Make:

01 - Rinse dried cod thoroughly under cold water. Place in a large container, cover with cold water and soak in the refrigerator for 5–6 days, changing water daily. Drain, sprinkle with coarse salt and rest for 30 minutes. Rinse off salt and pat dry. Preheat oven to 390°F. Arrange fish in a baking dish, cover with foil and bake 25–30 minutes until opaque and flaky.
02 - Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute without browning. Gradually add milk, whisking to prevent lumps. Simmer 3–4 minutes until slightly thickened. Stir in Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, sugar, salt, and white pepper. Adjust seasoning and keep warm.
03 - Plate hot lutefisk with boiled potatoes and crispbread or flatbread. Spoon mustard sauce over fish and garnish with chopped parsley if desired.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • It tastes nothing like what skeptics expect—the long soak transforms dried fish into something genuinely delicate and clean-tasting.
  • Once soaking starts, you're mostly a bystander, which means less stress and more time to think about why this holiday tradition matters to you.
02 -
  • The five to six day soak is not optional—rushing it by even a day leaves the fish tasting too salty and too stiff, and you'll lose the point of the whole dish.
  • White pepper in the sauce is traditional and matters; black pepper looks right but tastes sharp and wrong against the delicate fish and mustard.
03 -
  • Buy your dried cod from a source you trust or from a Nordic market where the staff actually understand the product; quality varies wildly, and good dried cod should smell clean and salty, not fishy or musty.
  • The creaminess of the sauce depends entirely on your whisking technique; add the milk slowly and never stop moving the whisk, or lumps will form and no amount of stirring will save you.
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