Ultimate fish cakes

Recipe uploaded by

Angela Nilsen

24 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

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 21-37

• leon

  18 August 2008

  leon commented on this recipe

  I can improve on this recipe. Fresh cod and/or haddock have a very delicate taste. Try a mix of smoked haddock and fresh salmon, or smoked haddock and hot-smoked salmon to give a more pronounced flavour. Then, used a mix of potatoes and cooked rice (50% each by volume) which gives a lighter cake. And finally - use Japanese breadcrumbs (e.g. "Panko" Blue Dragon brand) which are infinitely superior to any other type and produce a wonderful crunchy texture. If you have a potato ricer then use this in preference to mashing the potatoes, extra work but produces a less dense potato mix. I can say modestly that this method produces the best fish cakes I have ever eaten. Th

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• Middle Donalnd

  03 November 2008

  Middle Donalnd commented on this recipe

  This is a good recipe, easy to make but it took me more than 30 mins! I used fresh salmon with king prawns - the texture was better than just fish. I am not a tartar sauce fan so skipped the sauce. However, I did use mustard, capers, red onion and parsley for the mash. I also added a little bit of milk into it. I think next time I will add a bit more lemon zest. Served it with chopped tomato, red onion, mint, parsley and some snow peas with simple dressing of virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Great summer dinner (we live in Singapore so summer throughout the year...)!!!

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• Middle Donalnd

  03 November 2008

  Middle Donalnd rated this recipe

  

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• Paulina

  08 January 2009

  Paulina rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I hate mayonnaise and horseradish so I did the "sauce" with oil and the rest of the ingredients and put it all in the fishcake mix. They were delicious.

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• codman

  14 January 2009

  codman rated and commented on this recipe

  

  just brilliant ! and I should know

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• Wendy Lockley

  20 January 2009

  Wendy Lockley rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I made these for my boyfriend last night and followed the recipe exactly, he loved them. The tastiest fish cakes I've ever had. I served them with basmati rice drizzled in olive oil and fine green beans.

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• Boogalou

  03 February 2009

  Boogalou rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Served mine with sweet chlli dip and salad garnish.

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• moose

  09 March 2009

  moose commented on this recipe

  B E A Utiful !!

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• emma

  01 April 2009

  emma commented on this recipe

  Fantastic recipe, absolutely delicious but the preperation took quite a bit longer than stated so everyone had to wait for their dinner! We had it with the fennel and watercress salad suggested, which was perfect.

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• sherbert

  07 April 2009

  sherbert commented on this recipe

  made this last night the whole family enjoyed them not a keen fish person myself but even i managed 2 as i had increased the quantities

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• cathy hilditch

  10 April 2009

  cathy hilditch rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Absolutely lovely recipe... top marks :-)

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• jb5370

  07 May 2009

  jb5370 rated and commented on this recipe

  

  My kids helped to make this and it is the only time I have seen them eat fish cakes! Usually they like their fish on its own but they loved making and eating this. We didn't make the sauce but just used mayo to bind everything together.

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• Natster

  20 July 2009

  Natster rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Easy to make, Loved them.. they went down a right treat :-)

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• MaysDen

  10 August 2009

  MaysDen commented on this recipe

  A great recipe and very easy to follow. The first time I made it with tarter sauce but the second time I did it with parsley sauce with tarter sauce on the side of the plate so guests could take their pick. Both worked well so take your pick.

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• MaysDen

  10 August 2009

  MaysDen rated this recipe

  

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• manbearpig

  30 September 2009

  manbearpig rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Really yummy! Made tartare sauce from scratch though with eggs & oil etc.

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• williams

  14 October 2009

  williams rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Wow, didn't know we could make a cake with fish. that is really delicious. Thank you very much for this discover!!!! bil

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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

Preparation 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 sunflower oil , for shallow frying
• lemon wedges and watercress , to serve

Per serving

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

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