Chef Klaus
Backfisch mit Kartoffelsalat
Backfisch works when the batter is cold, the fish is dry, and the oil is steady. Miss one of those and you get a wet coat, not a crisp one.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Finkenwerder Scholle
Created by
Hamburg's flatfish supper lives in one pan: whole plaice floured at the last moment, fried light side down first, then finished with Speck, onion, and bacon fat.
Main Dishes
German
Weeknight
Special Occasion
20 min
Active Time
30 min cook•50 min total
Yield4 servings
Finkenwerder Scholle belongs to Hamburg and the lower Elbe, a fish-pan dish from the old island village at the edge of the harbour. It sits on the northern table when plaice is in season: the famous Maischolle in May, yes, but the fuller fish often comes later in summer after it has fed again. Weeknight or Sunday, it doesn't ask for ceremony. A whole flatfish, potatoes, cucumber if you've got one, and the good smoked Speck from the larder.
Hamburg-Finkenwerder keeps the bacon and onion in front. Some cooks up the coast add a handful of North Sea brown shrimp; some leave out the onion so the bacon alone speaks; inland kitchens fillet the fish and make it neat. I don't. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. In the south this would be trout or carp, not plaice from the Elbe market. Das ist kein Bierzelt.
The rule is the pan order. Render the Speck gently first so the fat runs, flour the fish only at the last minute, then lay the plaice light side down first. That pale underside is delicate and takes the clean first heat; once it sets, the darker thicker side can finish against the pan without the fish breaking when you turn it. One flip. No poking.
The sauce is what is already in the pan: bacon fat, sweet onion, a little butter, parsley, lemon only at the table. Nicht aus dem Glas. The flesh is done when it lifts from the backbone at the thick shoulder, not when the thin tail has given up. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Finkenwerder was an Elbe island fishing village at Hamburg's harbour edge; under the Greater Hamburg Act of 1937 its remaining Prussian section became part of the city, but the name had already stuck to the local way of frying plaice. The spring market cry of Maischolle tied plaice to May, although the fish are often fuller later in summer after spawning and feeding. The Speck is the northern preserving larder doing practical work: smoked pork fat seasons a lean white fish and gives potatoes something worth catching.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole plaice (Scholle)
Quantity
4, about 350-450g each
cleaned
smoked Bauchspeck or thick-cut smoked bacon
Quantity
150g
cut into 5mm dice, rind saved
medium onions
Quantity
2
finely diced
plain flour
Quantity
80g
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons, plus more for potato water
freshly ground white pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
clarified butter (Butterschmalz)
Quantity
60g, plus more if needed
unsalted butter
Quantity
30g
small waxy potatoes
Quantity
800g
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
lemon
Quantity
1
cut into wedges
cucumber salad (Gurkensalat) (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole plaice (Scholle)cleaned | 4, about 350-450g each |
| smoked Bauchspeck or thick-cut smoked baconcut into 5mm dice, rind saved | 150g |
| medium onionsfinely diced | 2 |
| plain flour | 80g |
| fine sea salt | 2 teaspoons, plus more for potato water |
| freshly ground white pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| clarified butter (Butterschmalz) | 60g, plus more if needed |
| unsalted butter | 30g |
| small waxy potatoes | 800g |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 2 tablespoons |
| lemoncut into wedges | 1 |
| cucumber salad (Gurkensalat) (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Two wide frying pans, 28-30cm, or one very large skillet for batches
- •Flexible fish spatula
- •Kitchen scissors for trimming fins
- •Shallow dish for flour
Instructions
- 1
Start the potatoes
Put the potatoes in cold salted water and bring them up gently; starting cold cooks the waxy potatoes through before the outside splits. Boil until a knife slides in cleanly, then drain and keep them covered. They need to be ready before the fish hits the pan, because the plaice will not wait politely while you finish a side dish.
- 2
Dry the fish
Pat the plaice dry inside and out, trim ragged fins with kitchen scissors, and make two shallow cuts across the dark skin near the thick shoulder. Dry skin and a dry flour coat brown properly; moisture turns the flour into paste. The shallow cuts stop the thick side tightening into a curl before the bone has warmed through.
Ask the fishmonger for whole plaice cleaned for the pan, not fillets. The bone protects the flesh, carries heat through the fish, and gives you the proper Finkenwerder shape on the plate. - 3
Render the Speck
Put the diced Speck in a cold wide pan and set it over medium-low heat. Let the fat melt out slowly, stirring until the cubes are crisp at the edges, 6 to 8 minutes; hard heat seals the cubes before the fat runs, and then you've got salty bits instead of the fat that carries the dish. Lift the Speck out with a slotted spoon and leave the fat in the pan.
- 4
Flour at last
Mix the flour with the salt and white pepper in a shallow dish. Add the clarified butter to the bacon fat and warm it until a pinch of flour sizzles at once. Dust each plaice lightly on both sides and shake off the excess; flour it only now, because a coated fish left sitting turns damp and heavy before it reaches the pan.
- 5
Fry light side first
Lay the plaice light side down first, working in two pans or in batches so the fish has room. Cook 3 to 4 minutes without moving it, because the first contact sets the delicate underside and makes the fish safe to turn. Slide a wide fish spatula under the backbone, turn once, and cook the dark side 4 to 5 minutes more, spooning hot fat over the thick shoulder. The fish is done when the flesh lifts cleanly from the backbone there; if you need a number, look for about 60C at the thickest part.
- 6
Finish the topping
Move the fish to warm plates and pour off any blackened crumbs, leaving the good fat in the pan. Add the onions with a small pinch of salt and cook until glossy and golden at the edges, 4 to 5 minutes; the onions go after the fish so they sweeten without burning during the fry. Return the Speck, swirl in the butter, and stir in the parsley off the heat so it stays green.
- 7
Serve at once
Spoon the Speck, onion, and pan fat over the plaice and tuck the potatoes beside it. Lemon goes on the table, not squeezed over everything in the kitchen, because the cook seasons the fish and the eater sharpens the bite. Serve with Gurkensalat if you made one. The flour crust waits badly, so eat now.
Chef Tips
- •Buy plaice in season. The famous Maischolle has the name, but late-summer plaice is often fuller after the fish has fed again; in deep winter, don't pretend a tired frozen fish is the same meal.
- •Use smoked Bauchspeck if you can get it. Sweet breakfast bacon throws sugar into the pan and burns before it gives you clean fat.
- •A whole plaice needs space. Crowding the pan drops the heat, the flour coat goes slack, and then the fish tears when you try to turn it.
- •Some Hamburg plates add North Sea brown shrimp. If you use them, warm them in the Speck fat off the heat at the end; boiled shrimp go tough in a hot pan.
- •Save the Speck rind for pea soup or cabbage. Weggeworfen wird nichts. It won't help the fish pan, but it will make a small pot taste bigger next week.
Advance Preparation
- •Have the fish cleaned the day you cook it. Pat it dry and refrigerate it uncovered on a rack for up to 4 hours; salt and flour it only just before frying.
- •Dice the Speck and onions in the morning. The Speck can be rendered ahead, with the fat saved separately, then warmed back in the pan before the fish goes in.
- •Boil the potatoes up to a day ahead. Rewarm them in a little butter, or slice them and make Bratkartoffeln if you want the full northern plate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 480g)
Calories
790 calories
Total Fat
42 g
Saturated Fat
20 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
170 mg
Sodium
2150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
57 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
46 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Coastal Fish & the Hanseatic Table
Browse the full collection
Chef Klaus
Brathering
The northern coastal herring that works twice: fried first for a firm skin and deep flavour, then laid down in vinegar until onion, spice, and sourness do the rest.
Chef Klaus
Bückling
The North Sea and Baltic smokehouse fish: whole herring, salted just enough, cooked in warm smoke until the skin turns gold and the flesh lifts clean from the bones.
Chef Klaus
Fischfrikadellen
The coast's thrifty fish cake, built from yesterday's cooked cod or haddock, bound lightly with soaked roll, and fried just long enough to crisp the outside.