I’m always on a quest to find new and interesting things to serve for dinner.  When I came upon these fish cakes I just had to try them.  I did a few things wrong with mine.  First of all I made them WAY to spicy.  Rob and I were both suffering. On top of that I made them WAY too salty (which is the exact opposite of what I usually do) so it took us a while to get through dinner.  Make sure you measure with this one cause it’s already a pretty salty dish.  And make sure you know what kind of pepper you’re putting into it.  I just grabbed a red one that wasn’t labeled.  Wooooeeee it was hot!

2 cups cod meat (mackerel, haddock, or other white fish will work too)

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger root

1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro

1 dried or fresh red chili pepper, chopped finely (careful here!  It’s supposed to be a high heat pepper though)

1 heaping tablespoon curry spice powder

1 tablespoon unrefined sea salt (I would put less)

1 medium organic pasture-raised egg

2 tablespoons whole wheat panko bread crumbs

1 tablespoon coconut oil

For the Mango Salsa:

1 ripe mango, chopped into medium dice

1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes

1/4 cup minced red onion (I unthinkingly put in the whole onion.  Don’t do this!)

2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

To prepare salsa, gently toss all of the salsa ingredients in a bowl, then let sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

To prepare the fish cakes, heat the coconut oil in a frying pan and cook the fish on medium high heat on both sides until tender and the flesh becomes white and flaky.  Let the fish cool and place into a food processor.  Pulse it into small pieces, but avoid over processing; the cakes will need some texture.  Place processed fish into a bowl, add ginger, cilantro, chili pepper, curry spices, and sea salt.  Mix well.  Stir in the egg, then the bread crumbs.  Form equal portions of the mixture into cakes of desired size (4 is perfect).

Heat the coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Brown each side of the fish cakes, continuing to cook them until they are hot all the way through.  Remove from pan and serve with mango salsa.

I found that some of my cakes fell apart while cooking and others didn’t.  Make sure you really mix in the egg and bread crumbs.  With the tweaks these will be really good. Rob loved them even though he could barely handle the spiciness.  Be careful with your salt and peppers and you’ll be good to go.  Happy cooking!