The fishing hasn’t been good lately. He comes home with either nothing, or bream (which are one of my lesser favoured fish) or salmon. Australian salmon are not a salmon at all, but a sea perch. They’re listed as sustainable and that’s at least partly because they are notoriously not a prized table fish. They are a good source of omega 3 though, and they can be turned into a good fish dinner with a bit of care.
Salmon are strong flavoured, in the same way that many of the oily fish that are really good for you are – think mackeral, herring, sardines. The flavour gets stronger, fast, after they are caught, so they really need to be very fresh. The dark “blood” meat and the fat just under the skin is the strongest, so they should be filleted to remove it. They go best with some acid like lemon or tomato and strong balancing flavours. And the texture is chewy, so they work best in something where they’re chopped, flaked or smoked.
But after all that, they do make very good curries, casseroles, stews, soups and patties, maybe even better for being stronger flavoured. This is one of my favourite ways to use them.
The Recipe:
Makes about 14 fish cakes.
In a pressure cooker or a large pot with a close fitting lid, poach
- 600 grams of fish fillets (white meat only, without skin)
- juice and rind of ½ lemon
- 3 bay leaves
In a pressure cooker, you will need just a dash of water and 5 minutes. In a pot you will need a bit more water and a bit longer.
Cool the fish until you can handle it, then discard the bay leaves and use your fingers to flake it into a bowl, feeling for bones as you go.
Meanwhile, cook 300 grams of diced potato (2 medium spuds) till soft.
Use your hands to squish together:
- the flaked fish
- the cooked potato
- ½ cup (packed) of finely chopped parsley and dill (I like it to be two-thirds parsley, but if you like dill, you might go the other way)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- juice and rind of the other ½ lemon
- salt and pepper
Shape into patties and shallow fry in olive oil till golden.
They’re good with salad or vegetables for dinner, and surprisingly good cold for lunch.
mmmm – yummy! i love fish cakes! here in atlantic canada we usually use salt cod for our fishcakes. my hubby goes down to the river just about every day during trout season and catches us fresh trout from the river for breakfast and/or supper. we eat a lot of fish and love it!
thanks for sharing your recipe – it is pretty exactly the same as ours. do you have cod down there?
oh one last thing – our atlantic salmon are to die for – just delicious!
We get Altantic salmon, but they are farmed in Tasmania, and there’s lots of debate about the ecological ethics of farming. I soooo envy you! Wild Atlantic salmon, yum. And being able to catch fresh trout every day, how lucky are you! Our salt cod isn’t local either. I think it’s important to eat local, sustainable fish.
We went fishing today and came home with nothing, water was looking pretty turbid, so would be more than happy with your haul. I love Australian Salmon cooked in foil with lemon, onion and herbs inside, just over a bbq. Yum. I think most fish tastes good fresh.
Linda – we just recently moved to atlantic canada from central canada (ontario). pretty much all of the fish in ontario is farmed – we wanted nothing to do with it. as both hubby and i love fish – it has been a hard 20-some odd years of not eating fish – so we are making up for it now. the river that we are on is fed by 6 streams AND is connected to the ocean. when it comes to fish – we are up to our eyeballs and loving every minute of it!
our village is also right next to fourchu harbour which is a lobster fishing village – and right now fourchu lobster is making all kinds of headlines in restaraunts from new york to california to europe. and my hubby will go out on the lobster boats next year and be paid in garbage bags full of lobster – yummm!!!
anyway – i agree that it is very important to eat locally, seasonally and sustainably. and we are very lucky that we can grow some of our own food, hunt, fish and have organic farms as near as 2kms away. we are very, very fortunate and grateful.
i really like your blog. and am enjoying reading through all of the backposts!
kymber
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