FISH CAKES WITH PICKLED RIBBON SALAD

Fish cakes with pickled ribbon salad. These little fish cakes are so simple to make and any tinned fish: sardines, pilchards, tuna – whether bought in tomato or curry sauce or whatever flavour works well here, so create your own.

Recipe courtesy CJ Jackson, Great British Seafood Revival – merlinunwin

Prep and cooking time: 2 and 1/2 hours

Makes: 6 fish cakes

Skill level: Easy

Ingredients

For the pickled ribbon salad

½ cucumber, peeled into ribbons
10 finely sliced radishes
Salt
2 tsp pickled ginger, roughly chopped
Handful of coriander, roughly chopped
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce

For the fish cakes

2 x 125g tins mackerel or a tinned fish of your choice in olive oil
1 tbsp Thai red curry paste, to taste
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4-5 tbs fresh breadcrumbs to bind
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
Flour for dusting
Rapeseed oil for frying
Extra chilli and coriander leaves for
Garnishing

Method

• Toss the peeled vegetables in salt and leave to stand
  for 15 minutes.
• Drain off any excess liquid.
• Lay the vegetables in a shallow dish and drizzle with the rice wine vinegar, coriander, pickled ginger and soy sauce.
• Chill for at least 2 hours.
• Drain the mackerel, put into a food processor with the curry paste, fish sauce, coriander and seasoning.
• Blitz briefly but keep it chunky. then add 4 tbsp breadcrumbs and work into a paste with the spring onion and beaten egg to bind.
• Shape the mixture into 4-6 cakes and chill. Dust with flour and pan fry in the oil for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
• Sit the cakes on a platter and sprinkle the pickled salad on top.
• Garnish with chilli, coriander and drizzle with the soy sauce