This is a long recipe but it’s not difficult and quite nice and methodical. You can make the fishcakes earlier in the day and cook when you’re ready if you like. You will get big fishcakes full of chunky pieces of fish. Serve with green salad.
Wine Suggestion: a top-notch Muscadet, like Jérémie Huchet’s, very special Clos des Montys. Finely toned and vibrant with citrus and grapefruit on the palate; both dry and salty, and creamy at the same time. It’s a little edgy, but we like that. Wines like this bring out the flavours of the sea and celebrate the three fish in this dish.
Fishcakes with parsley sauce – serves 6
- 600g Maris Piper potatoes, cut into chunks
- 250g thick unskinned cod fillet
- 250g thick unkinned salmon fillet
- 100g unskinned smoked haddock fillet
- 500ml full-fat milk
- 1 bay leaf
- grated zest of ½ lemon
- 6 scallions, finely sliced
- 25g plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 100g fresh white breadcrumbs
- 75ml vegetable oil
- lemon wedges, to serve
FOR THE PARSLEY SAUCE:
- 25g butter
- 25g plain flour
- reserved milk from cooking the fish
- 25g curly parsley, finely chopped
Put the potatoes into cold salted water, bring to the boil, then simmer for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender, then drain and mash. Season with salt and white pepper, then spread the potatoes out over a plate to cool.
Put the fish pieces into a large saucepan with the milk and bay leaf. Season with a little salt and peppper. Cover with a lid and gently bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes to finish cooking.
Remove the fish from the milk and set onto a plate. Pour the milk into a jug as you will need this for the parsley sauce later. Remove the skin from the fish and break it into chunky pieces, discarding any bones, then leave to cool completely.
When the potato has cooled, transfer it to a large bowl and stir in the lemon zest and scallions. Gently stir in the fish with a wooden spoon, trying not to break it up too much.
Divid the mixture into 6 balls. Flatten the balls into cakes, about 3cm thick, and place on a lined baking tray. Put the tray into the fridge for 45 minutes or into the freezer for 20 to firm up.
Sprinkle the flour over a plate. Beat the eggs together in a shallow bowl. Spread half the breadcrumbs over another plate. Now take each fishcake and coat in the flour, shaking off any excess, then into the egg, allowing excess to drip off and finally into the breadcrumnbs to coat. Place on a lined baking tray. When you have coated 3 fishcakes put the rest of the breadcrumbs onto the plate for the rest. The fishcakes will keep in the fridge for 24 hours at this stage.
Heat the oven to 200/C/180C fan.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then place 3 fishcakes into the pan and fry for about 3 minutes on each side. Put onto a baking tray while you fry the rest.
Put the fishcakes into the hot oven for 10 minutes to finish cooking. Test with a skewer to make sure they are hot right through to the middle.
To make the parsley sauce, melt the butter in a small pan, then stir in the flour. Cook for a minute, then gradually add the reserved milk, stirring continually until you have a smooth sauce. Allow to simmer, then cook gently for a few minutes until thickened, then season. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped parsley.
Serve the fishcakes with the sauce and some lemon wedges. A green salad works well on the side.
(Original recipe from The Hairy Bikers’ British Classice by Si King and Dave Myers, Seven Dials, 2018.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 