How To Order Your Burger King Big Fish Sandwich Norwegian-Style

Burger King is one of America's oldest chain restaurants, serving up burgers and fries since 1954. Initially specializing in just three menu items, BK's food offerings have expanded greatly over the years, along with its global footprint. The brand now has a presence in over 100 countries, and some international menu items are quite different from those served in the United States. For instance, the fish sandwich, known as the Big Fish in the U.S., is called the Fish King in Norway, and the two sandwiches' toppings and ingredients are notably different.

If you want to try BK's fish sammie Norwegian style — without traveling to Norway — some simple ordering maneuvers can create a similar sando. While it's not possible to exactly duplicate the Fish King via U.S. ordering — the foundational ingredients are too different — these switches will bring you as close as possible.

You'll need to do some topping swapping, as Norway's sandwich is simpler. While the U.S. version includes sweet tartar sauce, pickles, and lettuce, the Norwegian sammich only has lettuce and mayonnaise. The bun is also different. The U.S. Big Fish features a toasted potato bun, while the Norwegian Fish King comes on a sesame seed bun like the U.S. Whopper.

To get the closest approximation to the Fish King, you'll need to remove the tartar sauce and pickles and add mayonnaise in their place, which can be done in the website ordering interface or app. To get a bun swap, though, you'll need to make the request in person — changing out the Big Fish's bread isn't an option in the digital ordering platforms. Simply ask your server to replace the potato bun with Whopper bread, and voila! You're ready to fish feast like a Norwegian.

On the surface, Burger King's U.S. and Norwegian fish sandwiches don't seem hugely dissimilar: bun, fish patty, and toppings. However, a deeper dive (fish pun alert) into the ingredients shows more pronounced differences. Norway follows European Union regulations regarding food and related matters, and the standards are generally stricter than in the United States. The ingredients in BK's Norwegian menu items reflect this.

The type of fish in the Big Fish sandwich is white Alaskan pollock, which is the same variety of fish used in Norway's Fish King. However, that's where the similarities end. Norway's fish patty features a much shorter, simpler list of ingredients: Alaskan pollock, wheat flour, water, vegetable oils, potato starch, dextrose, and yeast. The U.S. patty, in contrast, features panko breading with its own laundry list of components — 15 ingredients in contrast to just seven in the entire Norwegian sandwich. This holds true across the board, with simpler ingredient lists for the Fish King's bun and sauces versus more complex construction in the Big Fish's. 

Having mayo versus tartar sauce is a significant difference on its own. But if you think you know what it would taste like based on other mayo-topped BK sammiches you've had, like the Original Chicken Sandwich, guess again. BK's Norwegian mayonnaise is sweeter, containing both glucose-fructose syrup and sugar, while the U.S. sauce has only a tiny amount of sugar — just 0.2 grams, with other differing ingredients, too. The mustard flour found in the U.S. mayo is absent in Norway's, as well. Such differences alter the entire flavor profile. Change the mayo, and you change the sandwich.