There's nothing rotten in the state of Norway

When I asked on Twitter whether anyone would be interested in me explaining how to make Norwegian Fish Soup for #ConfinedKitchen the reply camp promptly "not if it's with that rotten stuff". 
I presume they were thinking of Surströmming, which is Swedish and fermented, not rotten. Apparently there is a difference.

You'd be forgiven to think that I love all things fish, being Scandinavian and all, but I am actually not that keen on fish. I will eat Fish & Chips, mostly for the crispy batter, and salmon is okay too. Around Christmas time I get a yearning for pickled herring, especially the one in curry sauce. But apart from that, not really keen on fish. So imagine my dismay when I was visiting my Norwegian Mother-in-Law and she announced that dinner was fish soup! I envisioned eating just enough to not appear impolite and going to bed hungry. But it was delicious, and I just had to get the recipe. 
And now I'm sharing it with you all.

Here is what you will need:
2 medium potatoes (or however many you fancy, I used 2 medium and one small)
2 carrots
1 leek
Half an onion
2 Fish stock cubes
1 Vegetable or Beef stock cube (I prefer vegetable)
300ml of Creme Fraiche (full fat gives a creamier soup)
a bit of butter
3 tbs flour
Some fish - I used 2 Cod fillets and 2 Salmon fillets. Frozen is fine.
1L water

Method:
Chop the vegetables.

Heat a bit of butter in a saucepan of suitable size. Soften the onions in the butter. Then add the rest of the vegetables and fry them in the butter for a couple of minutes.
Add the flour and mix it with the vegetables. Add a little water and stir until the flour is mixed into the water. Then add the remaining water.
Crumble in the three stock cubes, stir, and bring it to the boil. When it boils add the creme fraiche, stir, and bring it to the boil again.

You do not have to use fish from Norway for Norwegian Fish Soup, but it helps.

Add the fish. You might want to cut the fish into chunks, but they will most likely fall apart when cooked. Leave it to simmer for 15-20 minutes, stir occasionally and prod the fish to see if it falls apart.

Season with salt, pepper and dill. Serve with garlic bread and prawns*. This will easily serve a family of four.

Yum!

*My Norwegian does not like prawns, so we leave them out.