The Best Fish Cakes

Watch the recipe video above. There are lots of fish cake recipes available online. However, some fish cakes are excellent, and some are not so wonderful! The secret is not to allow everything get mushy, but to preserve the fish in large flakes and the potato chunky. In the meantime, the use of thyme, garlic, chilli, and green onion keeps these fish cakes flavorful!

Ingredients:

FISH:

500g / 1 lb white fish fillets , skinless boneless, cut into 3cm / 1.2″ pieces (Note 1)
60g / 4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

FISH CAKES:

800g / 1.6 lb potatoes – Sebago (Aus), Russet (US), Maris Piper / King Edwards (UK) (Note 2) (makes 500g flesh)
2 garlic cloves , finely minced
1/2 cup green onion , finely sliced (~1 large stem)
2 large red chillis , deseeded and finely chopped (can omit)
1 tbsp thyme leaves , chopped
1 tbsp parsley , finely chopped
3/4 tsp salt

CRUMBING AND COOKING:

1 cup flour
2 eggs , lightly whisked
1 1/4 cups panko breadcrumbs (sub ordinary breadcrumbs)
1 cup vegetable or canola oil , for frying (~ 1cm / 0.4" depth)

Instructinos:

BAKE POTATOES:

Step:No:01

Bake potatoes for 75 minutes, or until a knife inserted into them pierces them easily, at 220°C / 430°F (200°C fan) temperature. Scoop out the flesh from the cut in half into a big basin.

Step:No:02

Lower the oven temperature to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan) to complete the fish cakes baking process.

WHILE BAKING POTATOES, COOK THE FISH:

Step:No:01

Place a rack atop a tray. Season fish with sea salt and black pepper.

Step:No:02

In a big, nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add half of the fish and cook for a total of 4 minutes, turning once. It shouldn't be golden; it should only be heated through, so that it flakes easily.

Step:No:03

Move to a cooling rack. Continue with the remaining fish.

MIXTURE OF FISH CAKE:

Step:No:01

Garlic is sautéed by adding green onion, garlic, chili, and thyme to leftover butter in the same skillet. Once the garlic turns golden, cook it for a minute and then pour it over the potato, making sure to scrape out all of the butter!

Step:No:02

Mash potato roughly: After adding the salt and parsley, mash the potato roughly with a wooden spoon. We want some pieces, not smooth mashed potatoes, so don't use a potato masher.

Step:No:03

Stir in fish: After adding the fish, stir it in gently, breaking it up a little so that the potato has some lovely flakes throughout. We want fish bits, so don't mash the fish too much!

Step:No:04

To form fish cakes, take a 1/4 cup scoop of the mixture. Firmly pack it in, turn it out onto a hand, and form it into a cake that is 1.75 cm / 2/3" thick. Pressing firmly will cause the potato to hold together. You ought to produce 13 or 15.

COOK AND CRUMB:

Step:No:01

Crumb: brush off excess flour, dip in egg, brush off excess egg, and then coat in breadcrumbs, pressing to stick.

Step:No:02

Stir-fry Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat for three minutes. Place fish cakes on a tray lined with paper towels and cook in batches for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, or until golden. If you're as fussy as I am, turn them over and cook slowly so the sides are brown as well.

Step:No:03

After 10 minutes of baking, take the paper towel out from under the fish cakes. Bake for 10 minutes, which reheats the previously cooked batch of fish cakes and warms them thoroughly.