64 ratings 4.7 out of 5 star rating. I've long been a secret fan of those day-glo curling stones which spend all day drying out under chip shop heat lamps, cheek by jowl with the savs and cheese pies, but I really fell in love with the fish cake when a far worldlier boyfriend whisked me off to lunch at Le Caprice for my 18th birthday. best fish for fish cakes. Follow Nigel on Twitter @NigelSlater, Above: smoked mackerel fish cakes. Rice is nice – think paella, or kedgeree – but this is one of those rare and beautiful unions where both parties shine brighter in each other's company: from poached salmon and Jersey royals to Jansson's temptation and cullen skink, the combination just works. Coarsely grate the cooked beetroot and squeeze out any excess juice. My fish cake recipe calls for fresh salmon fillets. Finely grate the horseradish root into the fish-cake mix, season with black pepper then shape into The smoky flavours and soft textures within seem particularly right for autumn and winter eating. Serves 3potatoes 500g, flourybutter 50gchives 4 tbsp, fresh, choppedsmoked mackerel 1, wholebeetroot 150g, cooked horseradish 30g, grated root. Not only does it make the mix slightly too damp for easy moulding, but it seems to dull the flavours slightly – cream and salmon might be fine for the rarefied environs of Le Caprice, but I want something snappier in my repertoire. 4. Sorrel sauce and Judi Dench are entirely optional. - Duration: 6:15. letscookchinesefood com 99,088 views. A lighter, more vegetable-heavy version can be made with salmon and courgettes. Add the mackerel flesh to the potatoes, checking carefully for bones. Horseradish and mustard, although popular with the likes of Nigel, Hugh and Angela, seem to me to miss the point of the dish – the very blandness of the potato is vital for offsetting the other flavours, so I prefer to add solid ingredients instead. Put the remaining egg in a shallow bowl, and tip the flour and breadcrumbs on to separate saucers. It has the advantage of coming ready cooked, ready to fold into mashed potato, but although the flavour combination is good, frying an oily fish like mackerel makes the cakes rather greasy, and although I don't season the mix, they're still very salty. Coarsely grate the courgettes – ideally the same matchstick thickness as for a celeriac remoulade – place them in a colander set on a plate or dish and add a generous sprinkling of sea salt over the surface of the courgettes. I served these this week because of an overload of small squashes that came my way, grating them and squeezing out the excess juice first to create a fish cake that was quite open in texture and therefore light and crisp. 33 Items Magazine subscription – save 32% and get a three-tier steamer worth £44.99 ... You're currently on page 1 Page 2 Next; The best salmon fish cakes. What's the secret of your fishcakes, and does anyone have any top tips for keeping them together in the pan? Transfer the skillet with the fish cakes to the oven and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until fish is cooked … Fish cakes in various forms are eaten throughout the world and have a long history, dating back to ancient China nearly 4000 years ago. Crab is of course the classic across the pond, but the price of crustaceans being what it is here, I'm assuming that you'll probably want to opt for fish instead. Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk. Bring to a simmer, then gently cook for 3–5 minutes, depending on the size of the fillets, until the skin, if any, pulls off easily, and it's just beginning to flake. Drain the potatoes thoroughly then mash smoothly with a potato masher or using a food mixer fitted with a flat beater attachment. The Fish Cakes recipe out of our category Shrimp! I particularly remember one made from kippers that made a somewhat splendid Sunday breakfast. Nigel Slater’s courgette and salmon fish cake recipe. After trying out both spring onions and parsley I decide that the subtler flavour of chives works better: the hot pepperiness of both ingredients is a distraction from the soothing, salty potatoey-ness of the dish. Golden patties of crumbled fish and mashed potatoes, of herbs and crumbs, spices and spinach, flattened into patties and fried until crisp. These traditional fish cakes are crispy, seasoned to perfection and taste like home – comfort food at it’s finest. The Guardian - Back to home. Heat a couple of lugs of oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add Drain the potatoes thoroughly and tip into the bowl of a food mixer. Add a generous pinch of salt and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat slightly and simmer until tender, but not mushy. Try one of our Tried and Tested recipes for the best fish cakes Do not move them during this initial cooking. I have rolled them in breadcrumbs, polenta or salt and pepper-flecked flour and offered them up with sauces of spinach, tomato, parsley or chilli. In theory, your choice of fish with such a dish is entirely dependent on your leftovers – fishcakes are, as we will see, very flexible things (well, until you try to keep them together in the pan, that is). The OFM team present the best meat, fish, vegetarian and dessert recipes. Set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes. Cut the spring onions into fine slices. Set a large oven-proof skillet over medium-low heat and add a thin layer of oil to cover the bottom. Felicity's perfect fishcakes. I love Asian-style fish or shrimp cakes but almost never order them because I find there's too much filler or 'binder.' It is worth the time it takes to salt the grated courgettes. Fish cakes are a staple, something you can batch make and freeze for future dinners, so it's always a good idea to have some to hand for quick, tasty meals when you can't be bothered to tackle a whole fish pie recipe.For the fish, you can use cod, smoked haddock, salmon or a mix, just make sure they're sustainably sourced. Our 25 Best Hot and Cheesy Dips Got Serious Game Baked Brie Recipes ... Back to Fish Cake Recipes More Fish Cake Recipes. Home made fish cake - Hot Bar / Korea street food - … Put into the fridge for at least half an hour to firm up. But they have plenty of flavour, too, and come a close second. There are few dishes Nigel loves more than a fish cake – from cod with parsley sauce to prawns and chilli, Last modified on Tue 9 Jul 2019 04.49 EDT. 12 fantastic fish cake recipes Whether you're looking for a light meal or a tasty starter, fish cakes are a great idea. So if you want to enjoy shrimp cakes in their most pure form, give this recipe a try. Fishcakes are the perfect example of a marriage of convenience which has become far more than the sum of its leftover parts - they exude a solid charm which belies their eminently thrifty origins. If ever there was a fish cake for a cold evening, this sweet, smoky version is it. Over the years there have been old-fashioned cakes of cod with calming parsley sauce; chilli-hot balls of prawn and lemongrass and flat cakes of spiced brown crab. It’s firm, fatty and widely accessible. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Nick Fisher use smoked mackerel in the Fish Book, which is a new one on me, although I often include a little smoked haddock in my mix. Fold in the beetroot briefly, mixing just enough to incorporate the beets without making the mixture pink. Using a food mixer fitted with a flat beater attachment, beat the potatoes to a smooth fluffy mash with the butter, then add the chopped chives. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa Slice the mackerel in half lengthways, removing the skin as you go, then remove the flesh from the bones in large flakes. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian. I find both of these, however, lack the satisfying crunch that makes such a pleasing contrast to the soft, savoury starchiness within – or maybe I'm just nostalgic for the chippie. Savoury, crisp and starchy, fishcakes are not a particularly sophisticated pleasure, wherever you eat them, so keep things simple with plain potato, a mix of fish, and a couple of zesty flavourings. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add the onions. You will need the beetroot to be fairly dry. Hong Kong recipe: How to prepare Fish Cake for cooking! ... About 286 results for Observer Food Monthly's 20 best recipes. But the cakes I like best are those made with smoked fish. Lift them out and serve. When the oil is hot, cook the fish cakes (in batches) for about 3 minutes per side, or until light golden brown. If you don’t, you may find your cakes are too wet and won’t crisp appetisingly in the pan. 2. Try them out! Carefully lower the fish cakes into the pan and let them cook for 6-8 minutes until they have formed a golden crust on the underside. Serves 4potatoes 1kg, flourycourgettes 250gsalmon 450gspring onions 4oil and butter a little for frying. Skip to main content. Drain and put back into the hot pan for a minute to dry off, then roughly crush them with a fork, so they're a mixture of mash and larger lumps. Well at this stage I don't know if they are or aren't but a delicious looking recipe from our state/local paper and their feature of 7 recipes in 7 days. I have rolled them in breadcrumbs, polenta or salt and pepper-flecked flour and offered them up with sauces of spinach, tomato, parsley or chilli. Dip each fishcake in turn into the flour, the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs until thoroughly coated. Horseradish, the traditional accompaniment of smoked eel, works well with smoked mackerel, too, and I grated some into this week’s fish cakes along with some coarsely shredded beetroot for sweetness. Simon Hopkinson and Lindsay Bareham preface their recipe in The Prawn Cocktail Years by explaining that the "British tradition is with cod, sometimes haddock and, after a salmon with mayonnaise, a 'luxury' version", adding that this is "ironic" given that cod is now "more expensive than (farmed) salmon". I prefer to use whole smoked mackerel for this, the flesh being more moist and thicker than the pre-packed fillets. Fish cake recipes. Warm a thin layer of oil in a nonstick frying pan then add the butter and let it melt. Using a little butter and oil, fry the courgettes, together with the chopped spring onions, until soft and golden, then fold into the potato. Leave for 30 minutes until some of the juices have drained from them. 3. The recipe from Le Caprice, as well as that of gastropub queen Trish Hilferty (who has written an entire book in celebration of the union of fish and potato, Lobster and Chips) calls for potatoes mashed until smooth without butter or milk, and Simon and Lindsay keep things even simpler and crush them with a fork. Having established that beaten egg trumps melted butter in the firm fishcake stakes, I'm sceptical of the use of double cream and egg yolk in the Prawn Cocktail Years recipe – that, surely, takes the dish into dinner party territory, rather than the Sunday supper at which it properly belongs. Rice is nice – think paella, or, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall fishcakes. Drain, skin if necessary and set aside to cool, then break into large flakes and add to the potatoes. 6:15. In theory, your choice of fish with such a dish is entirely dependent on your leftovers – fishcakes are, as we will see, very flexible things (well, until you try to keep them together in the pan, that is). Hardboiled eggs, as used by Simon and Lindsay, make the mixture too crumbly, but, thinking laterally along the lines of a classic tartare sauce that so often accompanies fish, I've added capers for a salty hit along with some finely chopped anchovies, rather than the anchovy essence suggested in the Prawn Cocktail Years. Are they the best leftover mash can aspire to, or do you have another favourite fish and potato combination up your sleeve? Place the salmon on an oiled baking dish, season lightly and bake at 200C/gas mark 6 for 10-15 minutes, until it is just done. Once they have formed a crust carefully turn each one over and cook the other side. Use your hands to form into four large cakes or six smaller ones. ou could measure my life in fish cakes. I was sold – on posh restaurants, cream carpets and, most of all, fishcakes containing actual seafood. Peel the potatoes and cut into evenly sized chunks. Such is the essential genius of the recipe, however, that it's quite acceptable to cook some specially – but what kind? Simon and Lindsay coat their fishcakes in flour, rather than the more traditional egg and breadcrumbs, while Nigella uses matzo meal. Such is the essential genius of the recipe, however, that it's quite acceptable to cook some specially – but what kind? Over the years there have been old-fashioned cakes of cod with calming parsley sauce; chilli-hot balls of prawn and lemongrass and flat cakes of spiced brown crab. Just as I think I'm whittling down my options, a chance flick through Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries yields a potato-less version, which mixes salmon, dill, flour, mustard and egg white together to make "tiny cakes that crisp up in the pan and weigh less heavily on the stomach than the traditional variety". Heat a frying pan with the butter and oil until the butter begins to foam. Pat the mixture, using lightly floured hands if necessary, into six small cakes then set them aside in the fridge for 30 minutes. Turn carefully with a palette knife and let them cook for a further few minutes until golden. 1. Moira Hodgson rooted this classic out of Claudia Roden’s terrific cookbook, “Everything Tastes Better Outdoors,” and brought it to The Times in 1987: a flourless orange and almond Times are estimated. Lift out with a palette knife, or fish slice, and serve. Warm the oil and butter in a shallow, nonstick pan then place the fish cakes into the pan and leave them to cook, without moving them, until they have formed a thin golden crust on the underside. They're more like fritters really – crunchy and delicious, but ultimately rather unsatisfactory: even Nigel admits that "despite a side dish of green beans and parsley, they leave us in need of a pudding". Cook for 10 minutes, then add the ginger, garlic, chilli, cumin and salt and cook for a further 5 minutes. As every canny cook knows, perfectly good fishcakes can be made from leftover mash, but Hugh and Nick make some specifically for the purpose, adding 50g butter to the pan. Squeeze the courgettes in your hand to remove any excess moisture. Golden patties of crumbled fish and mashed potatoes, of herbs and crumbs, spices and spinach, flattened into patties and fried until crisp. I find the buttery mash makes the finished fishcakes too soft – even after chilling, it's difficult to get them into the pan in one piece, something which also applies to Trish's use of melted butter rather than beaten egg as a binding. Gherkins, I discover, are a step too far down this road however: like Nigel Slater's dill, they're just too sweet for my taste. On the side, try a little sauce of yogurt, flecked with dill and parsley, or a dipping sauce of lemon, orange and lime juice mixed with a little olive oil or perhaps a small bowl of mayonnaise into which you have folded chopped tarragon, capers and a squeeze of lemon juice. Our favourite and most popular cake recipes, all in one place. Dame Judi Dench was there, her words muffled by an impossibly thick carpet, but even the presence of M at the next table couldn't distract me from the luxuriously-sized fishcake in a pool of piquant sorrel sauce that was set before my callow teenage self that afternoon. It goes without saying that you need a fluffy mash for this – the lovely waxy new potatoes available at this time of year are too dense to hold together in a cake. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian, ate and William, Petrarch and Laura, cod and chips: fish and potatoes are up there with the world's greatest love stories. Put into a large pan and cover with cold water. Meanwhile, put the fish into a large pan and just cover with water. Peel and slice the potatoes into large pieces, then boil in salted water until tender. However, you can use tinned salmon fillets in order to make tinned salmon fish cake. Depending on the variety of the potato, I start testing for doneness after 20 minutes. I’m sharing my favourite fish cake recipe today – something very Atlantic-Canadian (my roots!). Every country has its own variation but the classic Western ones consists of fish, potatoes, eggs, onions, seasoning, herbs and often breadcrumbs. In my opinion, salmon fish cakes make the ultimate fish cake recipe because salmon has a nice flesh. 400g floury potatoes, eg Maris Pipers250g fish: I like a mix of salmon, firm white fish and smoked haddock 1 tbsp chopped chives1 tbsp capers2 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and finely chopped1 egg, beaten40g flour, for coating50g fresh white breadcrumbsA generous knob of butter1 tbsp vegetable oil. One of the beauties of the fishcake is how easy it is to play around with: once you've tailored the basics to your satisfaction, the choice of icing on this particular cake is very much up to you. I find their 100% salmon version heavy rather than luxurious though – the fish is just too meaty for the purpose, however nice the same thing was for a treat at Le Caprice. Gently fold in the fish, broken into large pieces, and check the seasoning. Kate and William, Petrarch and Laura, cod and chips: fish and potatoes are up there with the world's greatest love stories. What are your top tips to prevent premature disintegration, and are fishcakes the best thing leftover mash can aspire to? Peel the potatoes, cut them into large chunks and cook them in boiling, generously salted water until tender. The plain mash, dried out in a hot pan before use, is easier to handle, but the chunks in Simon and Lindsay's roughly crushed potatoes mean their fishcakes have by far the most interesting texture. Stir in the chives, capers and anchovies. Add the fishcakes, in batches if necessary, cook for 5 minutes on a medium-high heat until golden and well crusted, then turn them carefully over and repeat on the other side. You could measure my life in fish cakes. Angela Nilsen uses cod or haddock in her ultimate fishcakes – and although they're lovely and fluffy I find them ever-so slightly dry in texture after the others: a combination of fish, I conclude, offers the best of all worlds. 5. Fish cake recipes Make a little fish go further by shaping it into fish cakes. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian, Prawn Cocktail Years fishcake, Le Caprice fishcake and Trish Hilferty fishcake. Mackerel, smoked on the bone until its blue-and-silver skin turns a rich burnished gold, makes a fine addition to a fish cake. Season lightly, and mix together gently, adding a little of the beaten egg to bring the mixture together into patties – it shouldn't be too sloppy. 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