Ultimate fish cakes

Recipe uploaded by

Angela Nilsen

14 ratings

Recipe by Angela Nilsen

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1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together. Set aside. Lay the fish and bay leaves in a frying pan. Pour over the milk and 150ml/¼ pint water. Cover, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 4 mins. Take off the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 mins to gently finish cooking the fish.
2. Meanwhile, peel and chop the potatoes into even-sized chunks. Put them in a saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Add a pince of salt, bring back to the boil and simmer for 10 mins or until tender, but not broken up.
3. Lift the fish out of the milk with a slotted spoon and put on a plate to cool. Drain the potatoes in a colander and leave for a min or two. Tip them back into the hot pan on the lowest heat you can and let them dry out for 1 min, mashing them with a fork and stirring so they don't stick. You should have a light, dry fluffy mash. Take off the heat and beat in 1 rounded tbsp of the sauce, then the lemon zest, parsley and chives. Season well with salt and pepper. The potato should have a good flavour, so taste and adjust to suit.
4. Drain off liquid from the fish, grind some pepper over it, then flake it into big chunks into the pan of potatoes. Using your hands, gently lift the fish and potatoes together so they just mix (see pic 1). You'll only need a couple of turns, or the fish will break up too much. Put to one side and cool.
5. Beat the egg on a large plate and lightly flour a board. Spread the breadcrumbs on a baking sheet. Divide the fish cake mixture into four. On the floured board, and with floured hands, carefully shape into four cakes, about 2.5cm thick (pic 2). One by one, sit each cake in the egg, and brush over the top and sides so it is completely coated (pic 3). Sit the cakes on the crumbs, patting the crumbs on the sides and tops so they are lightly covered. Transfer to a plate, cover and chill for 30 mins (or up to a day ahead).
6. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. To test when ready, drop a piece of the dry breadcrumbs in - if it sizzles and quickly turns golden brown, it is ready to use. Fry the fish cakes over a medium heat for about 5 mins on each side or until crisp and golden. Serve with the rest of the sauce (squeeze in a little lemon zest to taste), lemon wedges for squeezing over and watercress.

Per serving

359 kcalories, protein 29g, carbohydrate 36g, fat 12 g, saturated fat 2g, fibre 2g, salt 0.7 g

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• Rebecca

  09 November 2007

  Rebecca rated this recipe

  

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• Selisko

  10 November 2007

  Selisko rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I added some chopped dill to the sauce. They tasted delicious and I will certainly make them again

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• Susie

  01 December 2007

  Susie rated this recipe

  

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• alfie

  07 January 2008

  alfie rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Finally a fish cake recipe that doesn't die a flat death in the oven. Fantastic - I can recommend all of the Angela Nielsen Ultimate recipes on this site - perfection

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• Graham

  07 January 2008

  Graham rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Excellent recipe, I've made these a couple of times now and the whole family love them.

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• Tatiana

  24 January 2008

  Tatiana rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Delicious and so easy, also I substitutued 250-300g uncooked prawns for 200g of the cod and added them at the end of stage 1 so they can cook in the heat of the milk, (if using tiger prawns cut them into smaller pieces).

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• Bouncerbill

  26 March 2008

  Bouncerbill commented on this recipe

  Buying all my fresh fish from Morrisons, I know it has come from a sustainable source. I like the choice of potatoes in this recipe as I grow them myself, along with Pentland Javelin. Rate this recipe quite highly, my own variation would possibly have a generous shake of chilli flakes added to give a little extra bite.

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• Megz

  26 March 2008

  Megz rated this recipe

  

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• nicky marr

  27 March 2008

  nicky marr commented on this recipe

  If you need to make these gluten free, use coarse grained polenta instead of the breadcrumbs - it goes really nice and crispy, and is less hassle than using gluten free breadcrumbs, which often need dried in the oven before they can be used. Polenta works really well as a coating for fried fish too.

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• Giorgias

  27 March 2008

  Giorgias commented on this recipe

  Thanks nicky marr, I'm always looking for gluten free alternatives . Shall try this soon

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• Maz

  31 March 2008

  Maz rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I made these fishcakes with my 4 year old daughter. We used haddock instead of the cod. The recipe was so straight forward and easy to do. My daughter loved making these and thought they tasted very yummy. This is definately a recipe that we will make again.

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• redguide

  31 March 2008

  redguide commented on this recipe

  I dont often follow a recipe to the letter, Mostly because I dont always have the exact ingredients available at the time. I did pretty well this time, but i dont know what ;Mais Piper' potatoes are and I used Yukon Gold. The fishcalkes were rated 10/10 with the whole family. There are 6 of us. that make this recipe a keeper as far as I'm concerned. I made the Tartar sauce almost to the letter too. Yummy!

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• Annataylor

  01 April 2008

  Annataylor commented on this recipe

  im a chef and i put in some pancetta cubes and fried shallots i also poached my fish with garlic cloves and a split chilli with bay leaves and peppercorns with king prawns in aswell

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• cammu

  08 April 2008

  cammu rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Excellent! I decided to cook the fish in a pan with a splash of olive oil, and i finish put the cakes in the oven instead of the frying pan. Love this recipe. :)

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• Sarah

  12 April 2008

  Sarah commented on this recipe

  I was having a freezer and pantry clearout so used shop bought tartar, dried breadcrumbs, and some haddock I'd bought super cheap and my boys loved them. I liked them too and I have an inbuilt hatred towards fish

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• Sarah

  12 April 2008

  Sarah commented on this recipe

  Sorry, meant tartare sauce.

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• Suzuki

  23 May 2008

  Suzuki rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Divine. yummy :-)

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• AnnA

  29 May 2008

  AnnA rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Loved them!

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• Gillian

  01 June 2008

  Gillian rated this recipe

  

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• Stuart

  08 August 2008

  Stuart rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Smoked cod or haddock is also good!

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Ingredients

FOR THE TARTARE-STYLE SAUCE

• 125ml mayonnaise
• 1 rounded tbsp capers , roughly chopped (rinsed and drained if salted)
• 1 rounded tsp creamed horseradish
• 1 rounded tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 small shallot , very finely chopped
• 1 tsp flatleaf parsley , finely chopped

FOR THE FISH CAKES

• 450g skinned Icelandic cod or haddock fillet, from a sustainable source
• 2 bay leaves
• 150ml milk
• 350g Maris Piper potatoes
• ½ tsp finely grated lemons zest
• 1 tbsp fresh white flatleaf parsley , chopped
• 1 tbsp snipped chives
• 1 egg
• flour , for shaping
• 85g fresh white breadcrumbs , preferably a day or two old
• 3-4 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil , for shallow frying
• lemon wedges and watercress , to serve

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Difficulty and servings

Serves 4

Easily doubled

Preperation and cooking times

Prep 25 30 mins

Super healthy

Freeze, pref unfried - thaw for 4 hours

Ingredients

FOR THE TARTARE-STYLE SAUCE

• 125ml mayonnaise
• 1 rounded tbsp capers , roughly chopped (rinsed and drained if salted)
• 1 rounded tsp creamed horseradish
• 1 rounded tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 small shallot , very finely chopped
• 1 tsp flatleaf parsley , finely chopped

FOR THE FISH CAKES

• 450g skinned Icelandic cod or haddock fillet, from a sustainable source
• 2 bay leaves
• 150ml milk
• 350g Maris Piper potatoes
• ½ tsp finely grated lemons zest
• 1 tbsp fresh white flatleaf parsley , chopped
• 1 tbsp snipped chives
• 1 egg
• flour , for shaping
• 85g fresh white breadcrumbs , preferably a day or two old
• 3-4 tbsp vegetable or