Fish cakes: recipe, cooking features and recommendations

Fish cutlets - a versatile dish. It can be served as an independent or with a side dish, be the main meal or taken for a snack. Many housewives find it difficult to cook fishcakes. But this is not so. The article discusses the basics of cooking a product, presents several simple recipes for fish cakes, and gives tips for beginner cooks.

What to cook cutlets from

To please your family or friends is a simple healthy fish dish. For this, you can take fillets of both river and sea fish. The most popular species are: hake, pollock, silver carp, cod, carp, pike or pike perch.

Stuffing can be bought at the store, it is often sold frozen, or twisted independently using a meat grinder.

1. Frozen food will significantly reduce cooking time. But in the process of melting, it loses some of the moisture, because of this cutlets are less tasty and not as juicy as from fresh minced meat.
2. When self-processing fish, it is important to eliminate all bones.

In addition to using fresh or frozen fish / minced meat, recipes for canned fish cutlets are also popular. This solution is simple and convenient to execute. Also, canned goods are available in every store and can be a budget option.

Fish cakes, despite the heat treatment, do not lose their beneficial qualities. In them, as in fresh fish, there is calcium, phosphorus, fatty acids, vitamins and other useful components.

General principles

For the preparation of cutlets, both river and sea fish are selected depending on the preferences of the person. You can cook the dish in a frying pan, deep-fried, in a slow cooker, oven or steamed. It is believed that steam cutlets are better absorbed and do not harm the digestive system. This cooking method is recommended for children and people with gastrointestinal problems.

Even a novice will be able to cook very tasty minced meat patties according to the recipes presented below. But when processing fish, it is worth observing some principles:

• Grind the fish fillet in a meat grinder, using a large or medium grill. With a larger grinding, cutlets will turn out with pieces.
• For finer grinding, you can use a blender or food processor.
• You can also use hatchet knives.
• If cutlets are prepared for children, it is recommended to double-pass the minced meat through a meat grinder.
• Often, minced fish is liquid. To make it thicker, you can add flour or starch. But it is worth considering that with such components the juiciness of the finished product is lost.
• Also, the density of mincemeat can be given by adding cereals, vegetables, herbs, lard, depending on the selected recipe for fish cutlets.
• In order for the cutlets not to fall apart, you need to add an egg.
• To get the crust, cutlets before frying can be rolled in flour, breadcrumbs, bran or bread crumbs.

Classic step by step recipe for fish cakes

The recipe for a delicious dish that many have loved is presented below. Cutlets are juicy, aromatic and contain a large amount of fish oil, which positively affects the well-being of a person.

To prepare a dish according to a simple recipe, you can use fish fillet of pollock, hake or another species with a small number of bones.

You will need such products:

• 1 kg of fish fillet;
• 50 g of dill;
• 40 g semolina;
• 40 ml of sunflower oil;
• 25 g breadcrumbs;
• 5 g of sugar;
• 1 medium onion;
• salt and spices, dill greens at will.

Cooking:

1. Wash fish, clean from bones. Dry the fillet with a napkin.
2. Grind the fillet into minced meat using a meat grinder or combine harvester.
3. Peel the onion and also pass through the meat grinder, mix with minced meat.
4. Add semolina, salt, sugar, pepper, chopped greens.
5. Mix. If the minced meat is liquid, then add more semolina.
6. With wetted hands, roll the patties and roll each in breadcrumbs.
7. Fry in sunflower oil on both sides.

This recipe is designed for 4 servings and is considered the easiest to execute. The cooked dish contains 109 kcal in 100 grams.

Cakes of semolina and canned fish

During conservation, fish undergoes thorough heat treatment. Its bones are softened, and they do not need to be selected before cooking the minced meat - this means that all the beneficial properties, especially calcium, are preserved. The recipe for canned fish cutlets is presented below.

Necessary components:

• 1 can of sardines or other fish to choose from;
• 2 boiled eggs;
• 1 cup semolina;
• 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise;
• onions, salt, spices as desired.

Cooking:

1. Open canned food, pour the contents into a non-metallic container. Knead with a fork.
2. Pour semolina and mix well.
3. Cut eggs and onions into small cubes. Mix with fish.
4. Add mayonnaise, salt, spices. You can also use finely chopped greens.
5. Leave the minced meat for 15-20 minutes.
6. Wet cutlets with wet hands, roll in breadcrumbs or semolina.
7. Fry until crusty on both sides. Add a little water, close the lid and simmer over low heat for another five minutes.

In this recipe for fish cakes, you can add vegetables, such as potatoes, as well as rice. The meatballs are juicy and can be served as an independent dish.

Blue whiting cutlets with onions

Many people like fried onions in meatballs. It eliminates the pronounced smell of fish and fills it with taste. In this dish, you can add lard, which will increase satiety and calorie content.

Necessary components:

• 1.5 kg of fish;
• 150 grams of pulp of white bread;
• 100 g of lard;
• 3 onion heads (medium);
• 1 raw egg;
• ½ cup of milk;
• 100 milliliters of vegetable oil;
• salt, pepper are added according to taste preferences.

Here is a step-by-step recipe for fish cakes:

1. Finely chop the onion and fry it in vegetable oil until golden brown.
2. Wash and clean the fish, add lard, bread. All this pass through a meat grinder.
3. Mix with onions, eggs, salt and seasonings. Mix well.
4. Form cutlets with wet hands. Bread and fry in a pan.

Fish cakes with herbs

Even novice cooks will be able to cook very delicious fish cakes according to the recipe. The secret is to add greens. It goes well with the taste of fish. You can use parsley, basil, dill, cilantro. Instead of a loaf, you can add plain white bread or a bun.

You will need the ingredients:

• ½ kg of white fish (usually taken hake, pollock, zander or cod);
• 200 g loaf;
• 40 g parsley;
• 1 onion head;
• 1 raw egg;
• salt and spices are added to taste.

Cooking:

1. Soak a loaf or bread in water.
2. Wash the fish, peel. Pass through a meat grinder along with onion and loaf.
3. Break the egg into the minced meat, add the herbs and spices.
4. Mix well, you can use a mixer (with its use, the mince will turn out more magnificent).
5. Form the patties with wet hands and put them in a skillet or in a double boiler.
6. Fry for five minutes on each side, then simmer another 10 minutes.
   

Cutlets from capelin and gobies

If the budget is significantly limited, but you want to please yourself with fish cutlets, then you can use inexpensive varieties. For example, capelin and bull-calves. A recipe for delicious fish cakes will help with this.

Ingredients:

• ½ kg of capelin;
• ½ kg of calves;
• 200 ml of milk;
• 40 g of sunflower oil;
• 20 g semolina (added for splendor);
• 20 g mayonnaise (gives tenderloins tenderness, optional);
• 3 onion heads;
• 1 bun;
• 1 egg
• salt and spices are added to taste.

Cooking:

1. Wash and cut the fish. To simplify the process, you can put it in boiling water for 1 minute, cool. So clear the fish from the bones will be easier.
2. Skip the fillet, onion through a meat grinder.
3. Soak the bread or roll in milk (the use of milk gives the meatballs a special taste), knead and add to the forcemeat.
4. Break the egg, add semolina, mayonnaise, spices. Mix well.
5. Leave the minced meat for 15 minutes until the semolina swells.
6. If, after a period of time, liquid has appeared at the bottom of the container with minced meat, then it must be drained.
7. Form cutlets with your hands, roll in breadcrumbs and fry on both sides for about 7 minutes each.
   

Recipe for delicious fish cakes in the oven

A dish cooked in the oven will have a juicy taste, softness inside and a fried crust on the outside. In these cutlets, you can add various spices and vegetables.

You will need these ingredients:

• 700 grams of fish fillet (non-greasy);
• 100 milliliters of milk or cream;
• 100 g of stale bread (cut off the crust);
• 1 onion;
• 1 egg
• 50 grams of butter;
• salt and spices to taste preferences.

Oven fish recipe:

1. Grind the fillet with a meat grinder.
2. Soak the bread in milk.
3. Peel the onion, cut into pieces and knead with a blender (to obtain the state of mashed potatoes).
4. Mix onion, minced meat, bread. Add the egg seasoning. Stir with a spoon or blender.
5. Grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil (or you can cover it with parchment for baking).
6. Wet your hands in water and form cutlets. Place on a baking sheet.
7. Pour all the patties with melted butter.
8. Bake in the oven, preheated to 200 degrees, about 40 minutes.

Dietary fish cakes: cooking principles

To monitor your weight and health is everyone’s desire. Therefore, many housewives prefer to cook cutlets in the oven instead of frying in a pan. Nutritionists support this initiative, because the fish retains numerous beneficial properties, vitamins and trace elements. The recipes of fish cakes in the oven and for a couple are varied, and each housewife can choose a dish according to their taste preferences.

To prepare diet cutlets, you need to consider some nuances:

1. It is better to cook the stuffing yourself, then there will be confidence that it does not contain anything superfluous.
2. If the fish is bony, then the minced meat must be passed through a meat grinder more than two times.
3. Oil and lard increase the calorie content of the dish. It is better to choose dry varieties of fish and not include these products in the composition.
4. Bread is better to soak in water or skim milk.
5. An egg can be replaced with starch, potatoes or semolina.
6. So that the stuffing does not become liquid, the onions need to be cut with a knife, and not passed through a meat grinder.
7. If there is no special double boiler, then you can put the patties in a colander and put in a pan with water.
8. Oil and breading also add calories, it is better to abandon them.
   

Low calorie steamed fish cakes

You can cook delicious fish cakes according to this recipe and not worry about calories.

You will need:

• ½ kg of fish fillet;
• 50 g of bread soaked in 100 ml of water;
• 100 g of onion, chopped with a knife;
• 20 g of starch (you need to dilute it in 20 ml of water);
• salt and spices, if diet allows.

Cooking:

1. Wash and dry the fillet with napkins. Skip through the meat grinder.
2. Mix minced meat, onion, bread, spices.
3. Beat the minced meat on the table to give it density.
4. Form cutlets and cook for a couple of 20-25 minutes.

Typically, this dish is served with potatoes cooked without butter and milk.

Good advice for beginners

Recipes of fish cakes are quite simple to implement. But there are also some nuances in the preparation that experienced chefs share.

1. Cutlets are better kept in shape if the minced meat is beaten off on a cutting board.
2. The addition of pork fat, passed through a meat grinder, gives juiciness to the dish.
3. Passed through a meat grinder onion provides minced meat uniformity, but also makes it more liquid.
4. To add flavor, greens are added (parsley, dill, green onions).
5. To increase the volume and reduce the cost of dishes, potatoes, carrots, rice, cabbage and cereals (semolina, barley) are added to it.

There are many ways to make fish cutlets. Each hostess chooses her favorite variations: fried or dietary, with vegetables or herbs. The fact that such a product is useful for a person at any age remains undoubted.