History
Hangikjot takes its name from the old practice of smoking food to preserve it, and twice-smoked versions are closer to the old style, hung above the kitchen fire for many months. A survey found that around 90 percent of Icelanders eat it at least once over the holidays. Cold, it is cut thin onto flatkaka, rugbraud or laufabraud. Cafe Loki lists hangikjot on homemade rye bread and on flatbread, each at ISK 2,800.
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Make it at home
Ingredients
- 1.2kg pre-smoked lamb leg (from Icelandic specialist suppliers, or a smoked mutton shoulder)
- 1 onion, halved
- 1 carrot, halved
- 2 bay leaves
- 8 black peppercorns
- For the sauce: 60g unsalted butter, 60g plain flour, 700ml whole milk, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, freshly grated nutmeg
- 400g frozen petits pois
- 1kg floury potatoes, peeled and halved
- Rugbraud and butter, for cold service
- Pickled red cabbage and lingonberry jam, to serve
Method
- Place the smoked lamb in a deep pot with onion, carrot, bay, and peppercorns. Cover with cold water by 5cm.
- Bring slowly to a bare simmer (never boil hard, which toughens the meat) and cook 2.5 hours for a 1.2kg leg.
- Lift out the lamb, cover loosely, rest 20 minutes. Reserve 700ml of the cooking liquor.
- Boil the potatoes in salted water until just tender, 18 minutes. Drain, keep warm.
- Make the sauce: melt butter, whisk in flour, cook 2 minutes. Whisk in the warm milk gradually until smooth.
- Add 200ml of the cooking liquor to the sauce, plus mustard and nutmeg. Simmer 5 minutes to a coating sauce.
- Cook the petits pois in salted water for 2 minutes, drain, and warm through in the white sauce.
- Carve the lamb into thick slices. Plate with potatoes, pea-and-white sauce, and a spoon of red cabbage. Serve cold leftovers on buttered rugbraud the next day.
Tip from the editors. Save the cooking liquor; it makes a smoky base for plokkfiskur or kjotsupa for the rest of the holiday week.
Where to eat hangikjot (smoked icelandic lamb)
Hangikjot (Smoked Icelandic Lamb) in Reykjavik
Cafe Loki ★ 4.2
Café Loki is a restaurant across from Hallgrímskirkja serving Icelandic home-style food, with rye bread slices with mashed fish and rye bread ice cream.
Why locals goA family-run restaurant on two floors right across from Hallgrímskirkja, the most famous landmark in Reykjavik, cooking classic Icelandic home-style food.
TipThere are no table reservations, so it is first come, first served.
More places near Cafe Loki
Not on this list, but close by, nearest first. Every one is in our guide with its address, hours and what to order.
- Kol Restaurant Steakhouse, under 100 m away
- ROK Scandinavian, about 100 m away
- Cafe Babalu Café, about 200 m away
- Salka Valka Kitchen Casual dining, about 200 m away
- Snaps Bistro French Bistro, about 200 m away
- Krua Thai Thai, about 200 m away
More cities are in research. Want hangikjot (smoked icelandic lamb) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.