Polish cod fish cakes: juicy, with dill and lemon, in breadcrumbs
A way to serve fish that even fish-refusing children eat: cod fillet finely chopped, mixed with a soaked roll, softened onion, an egg, dill and lemon zest, shaped into cakes and fried in breadcrumbs. The secret is a roll squeezed dry and a mixture chilled before shaping: then the cakes hold together and stay juicy. Eight pieces, dinner for four.
Your own work in that: 40 min.
- Mixture 20 min
- Mixture chilling 30 min
- Breading and frying 20 min
Step by step
0 / 7 done
Chop the fish
Dry the fillet thoroughly with paper towel and run your fingers over it for bones. Chop with a knife finely, into 5 mm pieces; don't mince: in a mincer fish turns to paste and the cakes come out rubbery.
Ingredients: 600 g skinless cod fillet · 1 pcs white roll · 100 ml milk · 1 pcs onion · 20 g butter · 1 pcs egg · ½ bunch dill · 1 pcs lemon · 1 tsp salt · ½ tsp black pepper
TipThawed cod is watery. Squeeze it hard in a clean cloth, or the mixture will be loose and take too many breadcrumbs.
With a knife, finely, not in a mincer
Soak the roll, soften the onion
Cover the roll with milk for 5 minutes, then squeeze it dry in your hands and crumble. Soften the finely diced onion in the butter 5 minutes, until soft and lightly golden; cool.
TipAn unsqueezed roll is the commonest reason fish cakes fall apart. It should be moist, not wet.
Roll squeezed dry, onion softened
Mix
Combine the fish, roll, onion, egg, chopped dill, grated lemon zest, salt, pepper and 2 spoons of breadcrumbs by hand, kneading 2 minutes, until the mixture is uniform and sticky. Shape a test ball: if it falls apart, add a spoon of breadcrumbs.
Ingredients: 100 g breadcrumbs · 150 ml oil
By hand, two minutes, until stickyChill
Cover the bowl and refrigerate 30 minutes. Halfway through, put the peeled potatoes on to boil in salted water: they will be ready with the fish cakes. A cold mixture shapes without sticking to your hands and doesn't fall apart in the pan; meanwhile the roll draws moisture from the fish.
Shape and coat
With wet hands shape 8 oval cakes 2 cm thick. Coat in breadcrumbs, pressing them on. Don't flatten too much: thin fish cakes dry out.
Wet hands, eight ovals, breadcrumbs
Fry
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat, a layer about 3 mm deep. Fry the cakes in two batches, 3–4 minutes a side, until golden outside and white and opaque inside; turn only once (about 16 minutes in all). Drain on paper towel. Sprinkle the potatoes with dill, mix the sauerkraut with a spoon of oil and a pinch of sugar.
Ingredients: 800 g potatoes · 300 g sauerkraut · 1 pinch sugar
Four minutes a side, golden
Serve
With a lemon wedge, potatoes and sauerkraut salad. Cold fish cakes are excellent in a sandwich with a brined pickle; they keep 2 days in the fridge.
Lemon, potatoes, sauerkraut
Before you start
With salmon
The same mixture with 600 g skinless salmon and a spoon of mustard instead of the lemon zest: pink cakes, more filling.
Baked
On a lined tray, drizzled with oil, 200 °C, 20 minutes, turned halfway. Less fat, a slightly drier coating.
They fall apart in the pan
Wet fish, an unsqueezed roll, or an unchilled mixture. Squeeze, chill and fry over medium, not high, heat; don't touch the cakes for the first 3 minutes.
Nutrition
per 100 gStep photos are computer-generated from the recipe.
