Japanese fishcakes
Yesterday I was in Oxford so I visited Hayman’s Fishmongers in the Covered Market. I was pleased to see that they had fresh line caught mackerel, so I purchased a couple to make some fishcakes.
Several years ago I was treated to a 2 day ‘Original Fish and Shellfish Cookery Course’ at Rick Stein’s Padstow Seafood School. One of the first dishes we learnt to prepare was Japanese Fishcakes, a wonderful recipe that doesn’t include any potato! If any of you are interested in cooking fish, I can thoroughly recommend going on one of Rick’s courses – they are great.
Ingredients
- Mackerel, filleted (you need about 500g fillets in total to feed 4)
- 4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and very finely chopped
- 3 fat spring onions, finely chopped
- 4 chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
- A little oil for frying
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the salad:
- 100g rocket
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cold water
- pinch of caster sugar
Method
Fillet, skin and pin-bone the Mackerel and then cut them length-ways into long thin strips. Bunch these strips together and cut them across into very small pieces – you should not work the fish into a very fine paste, but neither should it be too coarse, or it won’t hold together. You should aim to achieve something in between.
Put the fish into a mixing bowl with the ginger, spring onions, mushrooms and some salt and pepper. Mix together well, then divide the mixture into 8 and, with slightly wet hands, shape the patties about 7.5cm in diameter.
Heat a lightly oiled non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the fishcakes and dry for about 1½ minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through. Put on to warmed plates and pile some of the rocket alongside. Whisk together the remaining ingredients to make a dressing and drizzle some over the rocket and a little around the outside edge of the plate.
Japanese Fishcakes