Fish Cakes (Aussie Salmon)

[Noodles]

Don't let anyone tell you that these fish can't be eaten. If your lazy and want to eat raw fish then read no further. If you don't mind some prep work and enjoy seafood in different forms then this is well worth the effort. There was a Takeaway Food store up here that used to use only Australian Salmon for their cakes. One average sized salmon will produce 8 good fishcakes which is enough for 4 adults when served with salad.

Obviously with this fish it needs to be bled immediately when caught if you intend to eat it then scaled, gilled and gutted as soon as possible. Fillet, skin and bone the fish then remove as much red meat as possible. You can leave the boning till after the next step if you prefer.

Step 1.

Place the fish in a saucepan with 1/4 of an onion - finely chopped, and 1 or 2 cloves of garlic - crushed.

Add 1 cup of stock (I use Chicken) and enough water to cover it.

Bring it to the boil then reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes or so. Don't over do it.

Strain the liquid off and allow the fish to cool. If you like fish soup you can keep the stock.

Step 2.

Peel and cube 2 medium potatoes.

Boil them until nearly soft. A little bit firm is better than falling apart here as they will provide better texture.

Mash them to a stiff mash. No milk. No butter. Just potato otherwise you'll be too sloppy and fall apart.

Step 3.

Combine the fish and potato in a bowl and mix it up well making sure the fish breaks up plus 1 raw egg to bind it all together.

Step 4.

Gently fry in a little oil then add to the mix:

6 green beans - chopped finely

1 spring onion (shallot) - sliced thin.

the remaining 3/4 of the onion - again finely chopped.

and a small carrot - finely grated.

To the mix also add any or all of the following plus whatever else you think may be to your liking.

1 teaspoon of fish sauce.

1/2 teaspoon of mustard powder.

Pepper and salt to taste.

Fresh coriander or parsely, (about a tablespoon).

At this point I refrigerate for a few hours or overnight to let it all firm up.

Step 5.

Divide the mix into the required number and form into cakes about 2 cm thick.

Dip each one into plain flour, followed by an eggwash (beaten egg only - no milk or they'll burn) then breadcrumbs.

Again refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

These cakes can be frozen at this stage or will keep for several days in the fridge.

Step 5.

Shallow fry in some vegetable oil on low to medium heat.

Serve with a selection of Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce, Tartare, Lemon wedges, Malt Vinegar extra sea salt if desired.

Of course you can use other fish but Aussie Salmon is great.

[arpie]

Sounds great!! I tried some of Tide'n'knots' salmon fish cakes last week when he was up with Rosetta ........ also very nice! Now I will have 2 recipes to try out!~

Roberta

[Blood Knot]

Sounds good mate - I love salmon rissoles (fishcakes) - my wife makes them similar to your recipe but puts a little mozzarella (bocconcini) inside them. Tartare is my sauce of choice. Had had not thought of putting the Sydney version to the challenge. Goodonya for sharing your cooking ideas.

Cheers Blood Knot

[Basil D]

Ive always hated these salmon Until I tried cleaned out the blood line, not bad

[benm]

Thanks for sharing this recipe, Noodles.

It makes the Aussie Salmon edible, but for the effort required, I won't be making them again any time soon.

Turned a 52cm Salmon into 15 good size fish cakes. Definitely filling.

Half way there...

Final product

[LBG.]

Been there, done that. Still too much work for the average result. Easier just catching better tasting fish

[barnzey]

Those fish cakes look pretty tasty. But is there any reason for boiling the salmon? For the lazy people who don't want to put the effort in (errr me! ) you can make fishcakes with a food processor. There's two main ways of making them. There's the slack slack way and there's the slack way.

Thai fish cakes the slack way

Ingredients:

Chilli

Ginger

Coriander

Garlic

Grated lime rind

Lime juice from lime

egg

breadcrumbs or cooked potato

Boneless fillet salmon, deboned, deblooded

Breadcrumbs for covering fishcakes

Finely chop chilli, ginger, garlic, coriander and place in food processor. Add rest of ingredients to food processor. Blend (don't puree the ingredients)

Shape fishcakes and roll in breadcrumbs

Shallow fry on medium heat

Serve with coriander and salad

And the slack slack way.

Substitute 2 tbsp of red thai curry paste (or green thai curry paste) in place of chilli, ginger, garlic, lime. Saves you from cutting and grating.

A food processor takes away all the effort...

[twisty84]

That last recipe is the way I do it but with out crumbing and they taste great can wait to get out and catch some more salmon for a feed of Thai fish cakes

[LungFai]

I prefer the Vietnamese Fish Cakes over the Thai ones.

RECIPES

Makes 4 (10cm diameter x 2 cm thick)

INGREDIENTS

- 500g fish, cut into cubes, deep cold chilled

- 1 tbsp fish sauce

- ½ tbsp olive oil

- ½ tbsp sugar

- 1 small shallot, finely minced

- ½ tbsp tapioca starch

- ½ tbsp corn starch

- ½ tsp salt

- ½ tsp freshly ground pepper

- 2 stalks spring onions, white part only, finely sliced

- Vegetable oil for deep frying

FOR DIPPING SAUCE

- Fish sauce

- 1-2 fresh bird eyes chilli, chopped

- Lime wedges

INSTRUCTION

1. Either use mortar and pestle or simply a food processor. Slowly put fish cubes into food processor to grind into paste.

2. Mix fish paste with fish sauce, olive oil, sugar, minced shallot, tapioca starch, corn starch, salt, ground pepper, spring onions. Continue to grind until the paste become in-cooperated.

3. Transfer fish paste into a bowl, cover with cling film, then place in freezer to chill for 2-3 hours.

4. Take fish paste out of the freezer, transfer into a stand mixer bowl, use batter blade to beat fish paste until it becomes smooth and quite elastic, approximately 5 minutes.

5. Use oiled hands to form the fish paste into fish patties about 10cm in diameter and approximately 5cm thick, (for rough cutting you can use a 10cm cookie cutter or a ramekin).

6. For fried fish cakes: Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add fish cakes and deep-fry both faces until golden brown

7. For steamed fish cakes: Put fish cakes on steam for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool down.

8. Serve warm with dipping sauce and cooked rice or use as main ingredient

Also great on the BBQ, similar to Nem Noung in texture for those of you who have eaten Nem

[Jew Stalker]

Lung Fai that sounds awesome, I usually do it in the form of the original post but next time I target salmon I will definitely bring a couple home to try that. I tried Vietnamese food once when I was visiting Sydney and thought it had a very unique flavour that I was quite unaccustomed to. In saying that I found it enjoyable and look forward to giving it a try myself. Thanks for the recipe.

Luc.

[LungFai]

I tried Vietnamese food once when I was visiting Sydney and thought it had a very unique flavour that I was quite unaccustomed to. In saying that I found it enjoyable and look forward to giving it a try myself. Thanks for the recipe.

Luc.

Can i ask which dish you tried and which restaurant? There are alot of so called Vietnamese food places operated by the chinese which skewers the flavour

Winter is here so it's time for Pho (beef noodle soup) or Canh Chau (sweet and sour soup where fish heads are used to make the stock) MmM gotta go get me some Salmon to make stock.

Edited May 28, 2014 by LungFai

[Jew Stalker]

Mate it was in a Vietnamese restaraunt about this time of year. I can't remember the name of the restaraunt or where it was exactly but it was around Fairfield somewhere, I had beef noodle soup and I remember liking it.

[LungFai]

Mate it was in a Vietnamese restaraunt about this time of year. I can't remember the name of the restaraunt or where it was exactly but it was around Fairfield somewhere, I had beef noodle soup and I remember liking it.

Ahh Fairfield, the place has grown dramatically in regards to multicultural cuisine.

Good luck with the fish cakes and if you are feeling in the need for a soup that i rate better than Tom Yum (Thai Hot/Sour and Spicy Soup) then give Canh Chau Ga a go. Served with Vermicelli, great winter warmer and light on the stomach so you can eat fish without the loaded heavy belly syndrome

[masterfisho7]

Great report the only way I will eat salmon is this way 

Edited December 6, 2018 by masterfisho7