Description
These Really Good Fish Cakes are a delightful blend of flaky white fish and chunky mashed potatoes, seasoned with garlic, chillies, and herbs, then coated in crispy panko breadcrumbs and pan-fried to golden perfection before finishing in the oven. They offer a comforting, flavorful dish perfect for a family meal or casual gathering, served with your choice of condiments like lemon wedges or tartare sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
Fish and Potato Base
- 500g / 1 lb white fish fillets, skinless boneless, cut into 3cm / 1.2″ pieces
- 800g / 1.6 lb potatoes (Sebago, Russet, Maris Piper or King Edwards), baked and scooped (makes 500g flesh)
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1/2 cup green onion, finely sliced (~1 large stem)
- 2 large red chillis, deseeded and finely chopped (can omit)
- 1 tbsp thyme leaves, chopped
- 1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt (for fish)
- 3/4 tsp salt (for potato mixture)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 60g / 4 tbsp unsalted butter
Coating and Cooking
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs, lightly whisked
- 1 1/4 cups panko breadcrumbs (substitute for ordinary breadcrumbs)
- 1 cup vegetable or canola oil (for frying, ~1cm / 0.4″ depth)
Instructions
- Bake Potatoes: Preheat the oven to 220°C / 430°F (200°C fan). Bake potatoes for 75 minutes or until easily pierced with a knife. Cut in half, scoop out the flesh into a large bowl, and reduce oven temperature to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan) for later.
- Cook Fish: Set a rack over a tray and season fish pieces with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook half the fish pieces for about 4 minutes, turning, until just cooked through but not browned. Transfer to the rack to cool, then repeat with remaining fish.
- Prepare Fish Cake Mixture: In the same skillet with leftover butter, sauté garlic, chilli, thyme, and green onion for 1 minute until garlic is golden. Pour this mixture over the potatoes, scraping all butter out. Add parsley and 3/4 tsp salt, and roughly mash the potatoes with a wooden spoon, leaving some chunks.
- Mix Fish into Potato: Gently fold flaked fish pieces into the potatoes, maintaining some fish chunks for texture.
- Form Fish Cakes: Scoop about 1/4 cup of mixture and firmly shape into cakes approximately 1.75cm / 2/3″ thick. You should get 13 to 15 cakes.
- Coat Fish Cakes: Dredge each cake in flour (shake off excess), dip into whisked eggs (drip off excess), and then coat thoroughly with panko breadcrumbs, pressing to adhere.
- Pan Fry Fish Cakes: Heat vegetable or canola oil in a skillet over medium-high heat to about 1cm depth. Fry cakes in batches for 1.5 minutes per side or until golden. For even cooking, stand each cake on its side and roll slowly to brown edges. Transfer to a paper towel-lined tray to drain.
- Bake Fish Cakes: Remove paper towels and bake the fried fish cakes in the preheated oven at 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan) for 10 minutes to heat through completely and reheat the first batch.
- Serve: Serve hot with lemon wedges, tartare sauce, plain mayonnaise (such as Kewpie), sour cream, ketchup, or tomato sauce as preferred.
Notes
- Use firm white fish suitable for cooking like cod, haddock, or whiting.
- Choose starchy potatoes such as Russet, Sebago, Maris Piper, or King Edward for fluffier mashed potato texture.
- You can omit chillies if you prefer a milder flavor.
- Panko breadcrumbs create a lighter, crispier crust compared to ordinary breadcrumbs.
- The final baking step ensures the fish cakes are heated evenly and helps set their shape.
- Press fish cakes firmly when shaping to help them hold together during frying.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 95 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: Western, British-inspired
Keywords: fish cakes, white fish, mashed potato, seafood recipe, crispy fish cakes, panko breadcrumbs, homemade fish cakes
