There’s something so comforting and wholesome about a fish cake. Maybe it reminds me of the fish fingers we had growing up – those staatmakers you could always count on to fill a gap between meals – or sometimes they’d be the main attraction. It was only later, when we all became a little wiser about world cuisine (Southeast Asian in particular) that we upgraded to fish cakes. But I would go so far as to say nothing beats the homemade variety… and they’re really so easy to make
INGREDIENTS
TIME: 2 hours / MAKES: 8 fish cakes
for the brown rice and salmon fish cakes
125 ml Spekko Saman Brown Rice
olive oil
500 g salmon fillets
salt and freshly ground black pepper
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
30 ml chopped parsley
1 egg, beaten
70 g (125 ml) cake flour
2 eggs, beaten
145 g toasted breadcrumbs
250 ml canola oil
for the dill aioli
10 ml salt
2 garlic cloves
2 egg yolks
15 ml Dijon mustard
40 ml lemon juice
10 ml ice cold water
500 ml olive oil
10 g fresh dill, finely chopped
METHOD
for the brown rice and salmon fish cakes
Heat the oven to 200 °C. Boil the rice according to the instructions on the packet, then drain and leave to cool.
Drizzle a little olive oil into an oven dish, place the salmon in the dish, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 8 – 10 minutes.
Take it out and let it cool. Then, remove the skin and break the fish into smaller pieces.
Add the cooked rice, lemon zest, parsley and egg. Mix well and season again with salt and pepper.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and place a cookie cutter 7 cm in diameter on top.
Spoon the filling into the cookie cutter and flatten the mixture with the back of a spoon. Doing it this way ensures that they’re all the same size, but feel free to shape your fish with your hand.
Place your fish cakes in the freezer for 1 hour. This will make it easier for you to coat them with the flour, egg and crumbs.
Cover the fish cakes first with flour, shake any excess off and then coat in egg. Roll the fish cake in the breadcrumbs and pop it back on the baking tray.
Pour the oil into a frying pan and heat to medium. Fry about 3 fish cakes at a time on both sides until crispy and golden. Drain on a kitchen towel and keep warm while you are frying the rest.
for the dill aïoli
Mince the salt and garlic together using a mortar and pestle until you have a paste.
Place the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice, salt, water and garlic paste in a bowl. Using a balloon hand whisk, mix the ingredients together.
Add the oil in a thin stream and whisk thoroughly as the aïoli thickens.
Taste and add more lemon juice if needed.
Add the chopped dill and mix well.
Serve the fish cakes with the dill aïoli.
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