A fabulous, easy dish from Sabrina Ghayour’s latest collection of recipes in her signature style. She is influenced by her love of vibrant flavours and her latest book, Simply (Hachette), offers up delicious food that can be enjoyed with the minimum of fuss in the kitchen. Simply provoides over 100 bold and exciting recipes that are bound to please. This fish cakes dish is certainly one of them!
Fragrant Fish Cakes With Preserved Lemon Mayonnaise:
Many Brits avoid dill with white fish (especially if you grew up in 1980s England eating vacuum-packed white fish in dill sauce), but it still remains one of my favourite pairings. The preserved lemon mayo provides a really decent hit of salty citrus that works incredibly well with the fish cakes.
Makes 6–8
Ingredients for the fish cakes
vegetable oil, for frying
300g skinless chunky white fish fillet, such as cod, hake or haddock, diced 400g mashed potatoes
1 small packet (about 30g) of dill, finely chopped
1 small packet (about 30g) of fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 tablespoons English mustard powder
4 tablespoons plain flour
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon garlic granules
1 egg
Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
Ingredients for the preserved lemon mayonnaise
3 small preserved lemons, deseeded and
finely chopped
4 heaped tablespoons mayonnaise
Method
Place a frying pan over a gentle heat, drizzle in a tiny amount of oil and add the fish. Cook for 6–8 minutes until just opaque. Transfer the fish to a sieve, break into flakes and leave to drain.
Preheat your oven to its highest setting.
Put the fish with all the remaining fish cake ingredients into a mixing bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Using your hands, work the ingredients together really well, pummelling the mixture for several minutes into a smooth, even paste – the more you work the mixture, the better it will bind together. Shape into 6–8 patties. Place the patties on a baking tray and bake for 12 minutes until just starting to brown. Remove from the oven and finish cooking the fish cakes in a hot frying pan with a drizzle of oil for 4–6 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned.
Mix the preserved lemons with the mayonnaise in a small bowl, season with pepper and serve with the hot fish cakes.
This is an extract from Simply: Easy Everyday Dishes from the Bestselling Author of Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour (Hachette Australia, RRP $32.99), is out now.
Photography: Kris Kirkham
