Fishcakes

In my search for new and exciting ways to feed my BH and future heir, last night I decided to try to make fishcakes.

With my BH pregnant, we were already on a special diet, including avoiding raw meat, cold cuts and mouldy cheeses. The diagnosis of her gestational diabetes certainly did not make this any easier, as this meant adopting a strictly controlled diet with reduced carbohydrate intake, with blood glucose testing after every meal. This basically rules out anything with added sugar, and small portions of bread and starchy foods like potatoes.

There have, however been a number of positive side effects. Because my BH must, we almost always eat three proper meals a day. And because we still need to get our calories, we are packing in more vegetables. And we have to think more carefully about eating out.

Separately, with my BH incubating our heir and still working hard at her sometimes stressful job, as well as having to deal with a difficult diet, one which excludes many of her favourite foods, I have taken it upon myself to prepare our evening and weekend meals as much as possible, with a good dose of variety and ensuring she is getting the nutrients she needs.

One of these is fish, for the Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids. Because she also has to be careful of her intake of mercury, this reduces the number of fish species that she can eat (regularly). (she did manage to find a brand of canned tuna online that tests every single tuna for its mercury levels, but there is only so much tuna salad one can eat...). Anyway, the fish I have most ended up using is tilapia. It is, I think, the cheapest fish at our local supermarket, it is fairly easy to prepare, and a single fillet is a perfect size for us to share as a starter. 

I found a simple recipe for a tilapia appetizer that added many of our favourite ingredients (avocado, tomato, sweetcorn), and although it is advertised as a summer salsa, it was right up our street! I've never actually done the basil oil, and basically you just chop up a tomato and an avocado, add some sweetcorn (or not if you prefer - I tend to lightly toast some frozen sweet corn in a hot frying pan for a minute or two), juice from a lemon or lime, and then any fresh herb you might like. The recipe calls for for basil, but I have added fresh cilantro/coriander and parsley; whatever I had in the fridge if anything. Beyond the mandatory salt and pepper, I sometimes add some spices too. You fry the tilapia  (sprinkle salt and pepper beforehand) in a hot pan with olive oil, about 2 minutes on the first side (it should be starting to crisp), and then 1.5 minute the other side, and it should be ready to go. If the fillet is a bit chunkier, then I would give it an extra 30-60 seconds on each side. So far I have never managed to under cook it. Over cooking would ruin it. Serve the salsa on top/under/beside the fish, share the plate.

But... I was getting a little bored of just making variations on this, so I decided to try something new. A bit of cyber analysis later, and I had settled on fishcakes. I was planning on using this recipe just as the basis, but in the end I pretty much followed as is, except I didn't add chives, capers, or horseradish to the sauce (I added some extra Dijon mustard). I used one tilapia fillet, which was half a pound, and so had to half everything in the recipe. The potatoes I used were three fingerling potatoes I had still at home, weighing 138 g. The recipe would have called for 175 g, but as explained, I want to go easy on the carbs.

Due to my allergies to dairy and eggs, I substituted the milk and eggs for soya milk, and fabanaise vegan mayo for the mayonnaise (it's made with chickpea water). For breadcrumbs, I had a box of store bought breadcrumbs in the cupboard from when I made mincemeat for Christmas. I used a very light dusting, and a pastry form to shape the fishcakes. The recipe would have suggested I only make two fish cakes, but I made four. I also only fried them for about 1.5-2 minutes each side, rather than the 5 indicated in the recipe. They were crispy enough.

They were a great success! They crisped up really nicely, and held their shape (I am guessing helped by the mayo). Wish I had taken a photo, but I forgot. With this being the first proper post, I am not yet in the habit. Anyway, my BH was only going to have one, but went for a second, showing her revealed preference (she says she has normally seen them made with salmon, and she is not a fan of cooked salmon). I had myself also never had a fishcake, as they are usually made with dairy/eggs. I look forward to making them again. I might try some variations for the filling - maybe add some vegetables: I saw an interesting recipe made with courgette. And a spicy sauce could be good, perhaps just adding some hot sauce to the mayo based one in this recipe, or maybe even just use (American) cocktail sauce.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can prepare them in advance, and then keep them in the fridge, ready to throw in a frying pan 5 minutes before you want to eat them, so I hope to deploy this for a dinner party one day as an appetizer! I could probably even keep a few in the freezer.