Fish Cakes (using Snoek)

On our recent visit to the Western Cape Province, we did a few wonderful things in a very short time:

* We sat around a fire and enjoyed a ‘braai’ with our friends from Cape Town,

* We attended the wedding of one of our longtime friends’ son,

* And we were able to spend a few days in our hometown, Langebaan.

While we were in Langebaan, I was able to persuade my mum to make her delicious fish cakes for our weekly Dish of the Week post. For this recipe, she uses Snoek as the base for her fish cakes recipe. You might remember that our Dish of the Week #34 was ‘Gebraaide Snoek’/Fish on the Fire. This is one of our favourite types of fish and is ideal to use in fish cakes.

Put it on the table:

My mum uses mashed potatoes with the fish to form the batter for the fish cakes. She also boils the raw fish (snoek) in a little water until cooked. However, you can use any other white fish you like (such as cod, hake or haddock).

Mashed Potatoes:

The mashed potatoes consist only of potatoes, butter, salt and pepper. Don’t add any milk, because then the mash will be too runny and the fish cake will fall apart.

Ingredients for mashed potatoes for fish cakes

2 big potatoes, peeled and cut in cubes

1 tablespoon butter

salt & pepper (black and white), to taste

Cook the potatoes in salted water until soft. Drain the potatoes, add butter and mash with a potato masher. Season to taste and put aside.

Ingredients for fish cakes

Mashed potatoes (as per above instructions)

700g Snoek, cooked and flaked

½ onion, grated

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon dried parsley

salt & pepper, to taste

After the fish has boiled for about 20 minutes, it is drained and left to cool. The bones are then removed and the fish flaked (this takes quite a bit of time, but it’s so worth it).

Cooked and flaked Snoek

Mix together the flaked fish, mashed potatoes, grated onion, beaten eggs and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste, but remember that the fish may also be salted – so be careful with the amount of salt you add.

Mix all the ingredients together

Form the mixture into round cakes and transfer to a plate while heating the oil in a frying pan.

Tip: If the mixture seems mushy or runny, let it sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up.

Form mixture into round cakes

Fry the fish cakes on one side until browned. Once browned, flip the fish cakes over with a spatula (or two forks, like my mum has been doing for years) and brown on the other side.

Place fish cakes in hot oil

Fry fish cakes on both sides until browned

Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. The ideal texture for fish cakes is crispy outside and a soft-chunky inside – exactly like my mum’s fish cakes.

Snoek fish cakes

Serve the fish cakes with a tartare sauce and green salad – the perfect meal on a hot summer evening.