Fish cakes

Fish can be rudely expensive these days, but it’s important to include it in our diets. This delicious recipe using quality tinned tuna or salmon provides an economical way to ‘get it in you’. Buy a reputable, ethical brand if possible, then enjoy these fish cakes with salad and chippies, or in a fish burger. For four decades I detested fish cakes; in fact I long considered anything containing tinned fish to be cat food. Now I’m a born-again fish cake fanatic.

Makes 8 fish cakes; serves 4 as a main with sides

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) floury (roasting) or all-purpose potatoes, such as russet or desiree, washed but not peeled

1 small brown onion

185 g (6½ oz) tin tuna or salmon

1 celery stalk, very finely diced

2 teaspoons very finely chopped dill

1 tablespoon very finely chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

2 teaspoons very finely chopped capers

¼ teaspoon very finely chopped lemon zest

1 egg, lightly beaten

plain (all-purpose) flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, for dusting

mild-flavoured oil, for shallow-frying

sea salt flakes, for sprinkling

lemon wedges, to serve

Tartare sauce or Aïoli, to serve (optional)

Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover well with cold water. Bring to the boil and cook until very tender; the actual cooking time will depend on the size of your potatoes. Drain in a colander until cool enough to handle, then peel and mash in a large bowl.

Finely grate the onion and squeeze out any excess juice. Add to the potatoes. Drain and flake the fish and add to the bowl with the celery, herbs, capers, lemon and egg. Combine thoroughly. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, then cover and chill the mixture for 2 hours.

Taking about 90 g (3¼ oz/¹/₃ cup) of the mixture at a time, shape into round cakes about 7 cm (2¾ inches) in diameter, and 2 cm (¾ inch) thick. Coat well in the seasoned plain flour.

Heat 1.5 cm (⁵/₈ inch) of oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat. When the oil is nice and hot, cook the fish cakes for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden and heated through; depending on the size of your pan, you may need to cook them in two batches. Also note that the oil needs to be hot enough to form a crust, or the fish cakes will fall apart.

Drain on paper towel, sprinkle with sea salt flakes and serve hot, with lemon wedges and sauce of your choice.

You can make a meal of them by serving with your choice of hot chips and/or a green salad.

Photography © Brett Stevens

Curry-in-a-hurry fish cakes

Add 1½ teaspoons curry powder to the fish cake mixture; change the dill to coriander (cilantro) or mint, and omit the capers. Serve with yoghurt or Mayonnaise mixed with a little chutney, and some extra coriander or mint.

Doin’ it Italian-style fish cakes

Don’t over-season your fish mixture, as these additions are quite salty! Add some chopped black olives to the fish cake mixture and swap the dill for basil. Serve with Aïoli mixed with lemon, a little mashed anchovy, some finely grated parmesan cheese and more chopped basil.

French kiss fish cakes

Add a little finely chopped bacon to the fish mixture, replace the dill with French tarragon, and the capers with finely chopped cornichons. Serve with Aïoli.

Tripitaka’s flippin’ trippin’ fish cakes

Add some nori flakes, finely chopped spring onion (scallion) and finely grated fresh ginger to the fish mixture; omit the dill and capers. Serve with Japanese (Kewpie) mayonnaise mixed with a pinch of dashi powder and toasted sesame seeds, a dash of soy sauce, a squeeze of lemon juice and some more finely chopped spring onion.

ahoy! fisherman’s basket ahead

Instead of a barbecue next time you have a group of friends together for a casual summer al fresco dinner, why not make up a good old-fashioned fisherman’s basket for each person? Borrow a couple of deep-fryers from neighbours. Line individual serving baskets with newspaper, then a smaller square of baking paper. Cook and season all your seafood, larger pieces first, and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the rest.

In each basket, arrange some Calamari rings, a piece of Golden battered fish, some Butterflied prawn cutlets, a couple of battered scallops (briefly deep-fried in the basic beer batter), perhaps some Seafood sticks, some Double-crunch hot chips or a Potato scallop, and some lemon wedges. Put some small bowls of Tartare sauce, Cocktail sauce or Aïoli on a tray, with a bottle of malt vinegar for the table. And offer a large green salad.

Or, if you don’t mind heading back to the kitchen a few times during dinner, serve the fish and chips first, then cook up some prawns (shrimp) and calamari in separate batches and pass them around on a platter for guests to add to their baskets as they are cooked. They’ll be hotter and more crisp this way too!

This is such a fun way to celebrate summer and relive a few childhood memories. And I’m betting it’ll be the best damn fisherman’s basket you’ve had in years!