Although I am an almost vegetarian, every so often, I really fancy a fish cake.. My go to recipe is a recipe in Dale Pinnock’s “Anxiety and Depression” cookbook for Tuna Sweet Potato Fish Cakes. This is a very simple, but very tasty recipe. The following recipe, is a slight variation on Dale Pinnock’s recipe.
Tuna Sweet Potato Fish Cakes (serves 2)
Ingredients
- 2 medium baked sweet potatoes
- 150g canned tuna
- 2 tsp chopped coriander or parsley leaves
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped (I blanch my onion first to produce a milder taste)
- 1/2 tsp English or Dijon mustard
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1-2 tsp olive oil
Method
- Mash the baked sweet potatoes in a bowl. Add the tuna, coriander/parsley, onion, mustard and egg. Mix well.
- Shape into cakes and gently fry in the olive oil until golden brown on each side.
- Serve with a poached egg on top and a side salad.
It’s a long story, but we currently have my Mum staying with us. The other day she mentioned her love of tinned salmon (something I haven’t eaten for ages). So, like a good daughter, I decided to incorporate it into something tasty. I came across the following recipe from John West. Again, with a few tweaks, here it is.
Salmon Fish Cakes (serves 4)
Ingredients
Fish cakes
- 170g can John West Pink or Red Salmon, drained
- 150g mashed baked potato, chilled
- 1tsp chopped dill or parsley
- Zest of ½ lemon
- Tbsp mayonnaise
Coating
- 1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk
- 2tbps plain flour
- 50g fine breadcrumbs (I used crush panko bread crumbs)
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
Tartar Sauce
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp chopped caper
- 2 gherkins finely chopped
- ½ tsp chopped dill or parsley
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. In a large mixing bowl mash the baked potato without its skin. Add the drained pink or red salmon, dill/parsley, mayonnaise and lemon zest. Season with a little salt and black pepper and mix well.
- Divide the mix into 4 balls and shape into a fishcake. Leave to cool in the fridge for 15 minutes. Meanwhile place the egg; flour and breadcrumbs into 3 separate bowls.
- Dust your fishcakes in flour until completely coated. Then dip into the egg and roll in breadcrumbs. Repeat with the remaining fishcakes.
- Add 2 tsp of sunflower oil to a non-stick frying pan and gently cook the fishcakes until golden on both sides, place onto an oven tray and place into the oven to warm through, for about 10 minutes.
- Make the tartar sauce, by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl. Serve your fishcakes with a spoonful of tartar sauce, a poached egg and a side salad.
My final recipe is for those who don’t like fish but like a ‘fish’ cake of sorts. I was looking for something to use up turnips and parsnips in and came across this recipe on BBC Good Food by John Torode for bubble and Squeak croquettes – I made cakes instead. The original recipe included 8 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped, but I omitted these and added a bit of smokey paprika instead for the smokey flavour.
Ingredients
- 50g butter
- 200g onion, sliced
- ½ large cabbage, shredded
- 500g leftover roast or boiled potato or roast/boil your own, mashed
- 200g leftover or freshly roasted turnips, parsnips, carrots (or any vegetables really), roughly chopped, then mashed
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 200g plain flour, well seasoned, plus a little extra for shaping
- 200g fresh white breadcrumb
- 2 eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt and a little water
- Sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying
Method
- Melt the butter in a pan, then fry the onions for 10 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the cabbage to the pan with a good grinding of black pepper. Stir well, then add a splash of water and cook, covered, for 5 minutes more until tender.
- Tip the potatoes and cooked vegetables into the pan, then mash really well. Mix in the eggs, then season to taste. Turn onto a floured surface and shape into cakes.
- Dust your cakes in flour until completely coated. Then dip into the egg and roll in breadcrumbs. Repeat with the remaining cakes.
- Put onto a tray and chill for at least 1 hour.
- Heat oven to 170C fan. Heat a 5mm depth of oil in a large frying pan; then, once a crumb turns golden within a few seconds, shallow-fry the cakes in batches for 2 minutes each side, turning carefully. Drain on kitchen paper and transfer to a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 15 minutes.
Guess what, I served them with a poached egg and some harissa onions, peppers and mushrooms.
Happy cooking.
