Salmon Fish Cakes

There's something about salmon fish cakes, they have an air of superiority over other fish cakes. If salmon is considered as the king of fish, is a salmon fishcake the king of fish cakes?

You can make fish cakes from any type of fish and the fish can be fresh, tinned, smoked,or pre-cooked. By pre-cooked I mean fish that’s been cooked from fresh to use in a fish cake recipe. But fishcakes are also a great way to use leftover fish, and by that I mean fish that’s been cooked and but not eaten. I don’t mean that you need to scrape off bits of leftover fish from peoples plates; that is unless you’re extremely frugal of course. In which case scrape away J

Just as a matter of interest fish cakes are a good way to use up the bits of fish left on the bone after you’ve filleted some fish. You can also use the cheeks of large fish; fish cheeks are becoming a bit of a delicacy in some high class restaurants.

Fish cakes can be made totally from leftover food, mainly potatoes, and fish of course. Add a few other ingredients: salt, pepper, egg, flour and an egg, and you have fishcakes. Of course you can be creative and add herbs and spices to make things like Thai fish cakes. One of my favourites is to use leftover barbecue salmon, either grilled or smoked.

This recipe calls for everything to be made from scratch but substitute leftover ingredients if you wish. Kids love fish cakes, get them to help you.

Serves: 6

Preparation: 10 minutes

Cooking: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

· 20oz (550g) Desiree potatoes, peeled and cut in to even size pieces

· 1ib (450g) Salmon fillet, skinned

· Salt

· Freshly ground black pepper

· Large knob of butter

· 3 spring onions, finely chopped

· 4oz (115g) plain flour

· 2 large eggs, beaten.

· 4oz (115g) fresh breadcrumbs

· Vegetable oil

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water for about 25 minutes until tender, then drain.

2. Bake the salmon for about 5 until just cooked through, remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes until cool then flake in to pieces.

3. In a large bowl mash the potato and blend in the butter.

4. Add the salmon, spring onions, freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to the mash and fold in.

5. Lightly flour a work surface and with floured hands form one sixth of the mixture in to a fish cake, then dip it into the beaten egg followed by the breadcrumbs making sure that it has a nice even coating all around. Repeat the procedure with the remaining mix to create a total of 6 fish cakes.

6. In a large frying pan heat a thin film of oil and fry the fishcakes for about 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and repeat on the other side. Drain on kitchen paper.

Don’t treat your fish cakes with contempt; take care of them while they’re cooking. What’s better than a slightly crispy and golden brown outside with a soft and warm inside?

You can serve more or less anything with these fish cakes. Personally I like to serve with chunky potato chips or wedges, and a lemon butter sauce.

You can serve with a variety of sauces like dill, cucumber, tomato and chilli. Basically any type of sauce that you would normally have with fish can be served with salmon fish cakes.