Mains · By James
Fish Cake or Fish Bake: Mexican Inspired
There was a time in the early years of our family when a colleague, Darren Klein, used to bring us fresh fish on a fairly regular basis — he loved ice fishing and so we would still get fish occasionally in the winter. It was at this time that I developed two recipes for the fish, one a fish cake, and the other a fish bake topping. The fish was a treat at that time on the prairies (no Costco yet in Medicine Hat, and limited frozen fish options in stores). To begin with, these fish recipes were without Mexican inspiration. Many years later that entered into the picture, when Phil, Cam, and I went deep-sea fishing off Vancouver Island in 2017, and came home with a chest full of frozen fish. We had a lot of fish to eat, and a little variety was needed, hence the Mexican fresh vegetable and spice inspiration. The cakes have a wonderful vegetable profusion, complemented by lime zest/juice, and chipotle! The baked topping pops with chipotle chile and lime juice, juxtaposed with rich butter and parmesan cheese!
Ingredients
Fish Cake (serves 4)
- 1.5 pounds finely hand-chopped white fish (avoid food-processor — will make fish mushy)
- ½ red bell pepper — finely diced
- 2 jalapeno peppers — seeded and very finely diced
- ½ cup cilantro, finely chopped
- ¼ cup red onion — finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic — crushed or finely diced
- Rind of one washed lime, and 1 tablespoon of the juice
- 1 very large or 2 small eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp dried chipotle spice, or use actual chipotles in adobo sauce (1 big chipotle, very finely chopped)
- 1 cup bread crumbs mixed with a bit of cream to make a thick paste
- 2 tsp salt
- Olive oil and butter for frying (the olive oil keeps the butter from browning too quickly)
Fish Bake (serves 8 — halve recipe if needed)
- 8 tbsp softened butter
- 2+ cups bread crumbs (or substitute your favorite cracker crumbs — use gluten free cracker crumbs if desired)
- 1 lime — zest of whole lime, and juice of ½ of the lime
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1½ cups grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- ½ small can (212 g or 7.5 oz size) chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, seeded and finely diced (save the adobo sauce to dot on top of cooked fish)
- 8 thick chunks of cod, halibut, mahi mahi ...
- Olive oil for pan searing
Fish Cake
- 1
Put finely chopped fish in a big bowl.
- 2
Add all the remaining ingredients in with the fish, and mix thoroughly with hands.
- 3
Form 2 cm thick patties.
- 4
If desired, coat in Panko crumbs before frying. It's important to refrigerate the patties for 20–30 minutes if you are going to coat them in crumbs (or put in freezer to speed things). This helps them to cohere while breading.
- 5
Pan fry on low-medium heat in olive oil + butter until nicely browned on both sides. Be careful not to fry them too hot — they need time to set up and for the vegetables to be cooked a bit.
- 6
Use 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp olive oil to fry 4 patties at a time. Then wipe out the old oil and replenish the pan with new oil before frying the next batch. This is important to avoid burnt tasting oil.
Fish Bake
- 1
Combine all ingredients together in big bowl with hands — work to thoroughly combine ingredients. You will have a paste which is spreadable with hands/spoon on top of your fish chunks.
- 2
Turn broiler on in oven.
- 3
Before spreading the paste on the fish chunks, coat each chunk with flour, and shake off excess. Pan sear in olive oil for 4 minutes one side, and 3 minutes on the other. Then transfer pieces to a baking dish and allow to cool a few minutes before spreading on the paste topping.
- 4
If using frozen fish chunks, there is no need to thaw them. Just rinse the frozen pieces and pat dry with paper towel. Coat with flour, pan sear for a little longer (6 minutes one side, and 4 minutes the other), then cool a bit and spread on the topping.
- 5
Broil on middle rack for about 4–6 minutes to create a browned crispiness on the topping (depending on thickness), and to finish cooking the fish — watch carefully. Serve immediately.
- 6
When serving, drizzle or dot the top of the fillets with reserved adobo sauce (wonderful chipotle spice and tomato tang takes it to a whole new level).
A note from James
Serve with a savory risotto (sundried tomato and prosciutto works very well) and asparagus. Drink/wine pairing: Sauvignon Blanc.
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