Upgrade A Classic McDonald's Filet-O-Fish By Ordering It The Norwegian Way

We've covered how to give McDonald's Filet-O-Fish a British twist, and everyone fluent in gaming the McD's menu knows about the legendary secret menu "Land, Sea, and Air" burger made of a beef patty, a chicken patty, and a fish patty. Is there a reason that so many ingenious Filet-O-Fish hacks are floating around the internet, intriguing drive-thru customers? Maybe it's because the iconic fish sammie is the perfect blank canvas for experimentation. If you ever happen to find yourself in Norway, you can see a shining example of just how far you can take the simple seafood handheld ... and actually turn it into something akin to a loaded burger.

The Fish McFeast, seen disassembled on a YouTube clip, piles on the toppings: lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles, plus ketchup, mustard, and lashings of mayo to hold everything together. The sandwich is encased in a sesame seed bun and features a full slice of American cheese. Your local McDonald's may not offer the Fish McFeast, but there's no reason you can't order a Filet-O-Fish and customize it to get close to the Norwegian wonder. 

We recommend ordering in-person (ideally not during a mealtime rush), since there are a lot of tweaks and the app won't allow you to add everything. Just request a seeded bun and pile on the toppings, all of which your restaurant should have on hand. A lot of patience and plenty of "please" and "thank you" will ensure you get what you want. The resulting fish burger will be large, in charge, and delightfully messy!

The internet is rife with copycat recipes for those trying to replicate the Filet-O-Fish at home. We know what type of fish McDonald's uses in the Filet-O-Fish: it's Alaskan pollock, which isn't hard to source. While some preparations will use a thin filet as the basis of their sando, we've heard great things about making a patty out of fish pulsed in a food processor with bread crumbs, mayo, and egg as binders. To ensure you mimic the delightful square shape of the original, freeze your fish mixture in molds or as one solid sheet that you cut to size.

Perfecting the protein is the only hard part of your DIY Fish McFeast, as the rest of the process involves ingredients that you can get easily at the supermarket. While many McDonald's sandwiches use shredded iceberg lettuce, the Norwegian handheld uses whole leaf lettuce. Romaine is always a solid player when it comes to sammies if you're looking for suggestions. 

Season with your sauces (ketchup, mustard, and mayo) as your heart desires. To replicate the fast food experience, your tomato and onion should both be sliced thin — those with solid skills can use a knife, while others might want to whip out a mandoline. This isn't the moment for a bakery-style bun, either. For true fast food recreation, you want a regular-degular seeded bun off the shelf in the bread aisle. Assembling your sandwich might take some prep, but we think the burger-style dressing of the sandwich will pay dividends when you eat it. Best of all, it's almost no extra work to batch sandwiches for all your loved ones at the same time.