Haddock fishcakes. Simply prepared, lots of flavour, and very few ingredients. What more do you need to know?
When I was around twenty-two, twenty-three, I started working in this up-scale tapas/cocktail bar in Halifax. Our kitchen wasn’t much bigger than a closet, the dish pit (where the dishwasher is) was a closet under a staircase, and we had a small dry-storage room in the basement that also housed the most miniature walk-in fridge I have ever seen. It was more like a lean-in fridge. The ceiling in that basement storage room was low enough that I couldn’t stand up straight without putting my head through the ceiling tiles. I only mention this, because I would spend hours upon hours in my first few months at that restaurant hunched over in the low-ceilinged basement storage room breading fishcakes; hundreds and hundreds of fishcakes.
I don’t remember everything that was in all those fishcakes I was breading, but I do remember spending a lot of time thinking about what I would put in my perfect fishcake recipe. It was way back then, twelve or thirteen years ago, that I came up with the first version of this haddock fishcake recipe. Over the years, it’s changed and been updated as my tastes have changed. But, for the most part, the recipe in this post is the same one I devised hunched over in that basement all those years ago. To this day, it is still my favourite Haddock Fishcake Recipe, and I’d like to share it with you.
What’s in the Haddock Fish Cakes?
If you’ve been reading the blog for any amount of time you know that I don’t like over complicated recipes. Why do something with twenty ingredients that you can do it with five or six? These haddock fishcakes stay true to that ethos. Almost all of the ingredients I use to make the fishcakes are pictured below, they are 1 lb of haddock, two potatoes, one red and one green bell pepper, one onion, a bit of thyme, and a bit of parsley. Not seen in the pictures is a bit of dried dill, paprika, salt and pepper. Those are all of the ingredients in the haddock fishcakes. Want to see how to make them?
Preparing the Peppers and Onion
The first step in making my favourite haddock fishcakes is to dice the peppers and onions. You want to cut these ingredients no more than 1 cm x 1 cm and as evenly as possible. Once the vegetables are cut, heat a medium frying pan over medium-high heat, add in 1 tbsp of oil, sautée the onions for two to three minutes, then add in the peppers and cook for another three to five minutes or until the peppers and onions are soft. Take the vegetables off the heat and put in a dish to cool.
Potatoes
Before you cook the peppers and onions, peel and dice the potatoes, cover them with water and bring them to a boil on high heat. By the time the peppers and onions are finished, the potatoes should be cooked and ready for mashing.
Drain the potatoes, and let them sit in the colander for about three minutes before mashing them. Rather than a masher, I use a food mill to process the potatoes. A food mill forces the potatoes through tiny holes, making sure there are no lumps and leaving you with very smooth potatoes. If you do use a potato masher to process the potatoes, get them as lump-free as possible.
Place Holder
The haddock can be cooked in a few different ways. You can bake it at 350°f for about twenty minutes. You can poach it in water or milk, or you can steam the fish for four to five minutes. As you can see in the pictures below, to cook my haddock I steamed it. Once the haddock is cooked set it aside to cool slightly.
Put it all together
After all of the ingredients had been processed, there should be two cups of peppers and onions, two cups of mashed potato, and two cups of poached haddock. That should be easy enough to remember. To those main ingredients, add one tablespoon of chopped parsley, one teaspoon chopped thyme, one teaspoon dried dill, one teaspoon paprika, half a teaspoon of salt (plus more to taste) and an eighth of a teaspoon of pepper (plus more to taste). Mix all of the ingredients, taste the mixture (it’s okay, everything’s cooked) and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
Forming the Fishcakes
To form the fishcakes, and get them all the same size, use a 1/3 cup measure to scoop out portions of the mixture. Roll the scooped portions into balls, then flatten the balls and cup your hands around the edges to tighten-up the circumference. Repeat this process until all of the haddock fishcakes have been formed. Put the fishcakes in the fridge to chill for about an hour, or freeze as they are.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Steamed Haddock
- 2 cups Mashed Potatoes
- 2 cups Sautéed Peppers and Onions 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 onion
- 1 tbsp Chopped Parsley
- 1 tsp Fresh Thyme
- 1 tsp Dill
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Salt or to taste
- 1/8 tsp Pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together.
- Taste the mix (it's okay, everything is cooked) and season with salt and pepper as you need it.
- Divide the fishcake mix into 13 balls using a 1/3 cup measure.
- Form the balls into patties and put in the fridge for an hour to chill.
- At this point, you can either freeze the fishcakes or dredge them in flour, and pan fry for 4 to 5 minutes.
Cooking and Serving The Fishcakes
After the haddock fishcakes have had time to chill and rest, take as many as you’d like, dust them with flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour) and fry them over medium heat in a touch of oil for three to four minutes per side or until they are golden brown and a little crisp.
I love fishcakes and eggs together. So, I served my fishcakes with two soft-poached eggs on top and a bit of salad. I also made a Sriracha-Orange Mayonaise to go with the fishcakes. You can find the recipe below.
Fishcake Wrap Up
These haddock fishcakes are great for breakfast or make a perfect a light lunch. They freeze very well and can be cooked right from frozen. What are you waiting for?
Do you have a favourite fishcake recipe? How is it different than mine? Tell me in the comments section below.
Bonus Recipe
Orange Sriracha Mayo goes very well with the fishcake recipe above. It also goes great with onion rings, calamari, and deep-fried clams. To make it, combine mayo, sriracha, orange zest and juice and a touch of salt and pepper. See the full recipe below.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Mayo
- 1 tsp Sriracha
- 1/2 tsp Orange Zest
- 1 tsp Orange Juice
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients.
- Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper as needed.
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