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Medisterkaker
Østlandet · Eastern Valleys

Medisterkaker

Seasoned pork patties fried golden and simmered in gravy — a mainstay of the Christmas table.

1 hrEasy
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Cultural Context & History

Alongside the Christmas ribbe you will always find medisterkaker — plump pork patties spiced with ginger and nutmeg. Fried and gravied, they are the season's reliable comfort.

Ingredients

  • 500 g minced pork (medisterdeig)
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp potato starch333 kcal · 0 g protein · 0 g fat · 83.3 g carbs per 100 g
  • 1/4 tsp each ground nutmeg, ginger and cloves
  • 200 ml cold milk884 kcal · 0.1 g protein · 100 g fat · 0 g carbs per 100 g
  • Butter, for frying714 kcal · 0 g protein · 78.6 g fat · 0 g carbs per 100 g

Per-100 g values shown for ingredients verified against Nutrition data: USDA FoodData Central (snapshot 2026-09-11). Ingredients not yet verified show no nutrition line.

Recommended Tools

  • Stand mixer with paddleBeats the farce to a smooth, springy emulsion.
  • Cast-iron skilletHolds an even, steady heat for a deep golden crust.

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Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. 1

    Work the minced pork with the salt until it turns sticky and cohesive.

  2. 2

    Knead in the potato starch and the ground nutmeg, ginger and cloves until evenly worked through.

  3. 3

    Pour in the ice-cold milk a little at a time, stirring vigorously so the mixture emulsifies into a smooth, glossy farce.

  4. 4

    Shape into large round cakes with a spoon dipped in cold water, then fry in butter over medium heat for 5–6 minutes each side until golden and cooked through.

  5. 5

    If you like, slip them into gently simmering pork broth to finish and warm through before serving.

Chef's Tip

Keep the milk and the mixing bowl fridge-cold: a pork farce behaves like a fine sausage mix, and any warmth splits it into a grainy, weeping cake.

Chef's Tip

Fry a small nub of the farce before shaping the rest — it is the only honest way to judge the salt and spicing, since raw pork tells you nothing.

How this page was made

Written by
The Norcook editorial archive. No individual author is named yet — see the editorial and food-safety policy for what that means and what has to happen before a byline appears.
Content last checked
— “checked” records an editorial check, not a qualified review. Where one exists, the recipe-specific review record appears in the food-safety callout.
Regional context
Østlandet — the hub carries the wider background, the ingredient glossary and its own sources.
Sources
No page-level sources are recorded for this recipe yet. The cultural background above is written as general context, not as a sourced historical claim.

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