Crab is delicious. So are crab cakes. Crabs can be expensive though. Although they are delicious, it can be pricey to buy a large amount of lump crab meat to make crab cakes. Fish, though, is a bit more inexpensive. As a result, I make fish cakes more often. Equally tasty and easy to make.
For my fish cakes, I bake fish fillets, flake the fish, and combine it with a few basic ingredients like green onion, parsley, and fry herbs for flavor. Panko breadcrumbs and eggs bring it all together. After they are briefly fried, you have some light, tasty fish cakes which are even better when topped with the tartar sauce.
Ingredients
1 ½ lbs tilapia filets
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup green onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
½ tsp salt
½ tsp dried dill
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp black pepper
Vegetable oil
1 ½ lbs tilapia filets
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup green onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
½ tsp salt
½ tsp dried dill
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp black pepper
Vegetable oil
Tartar sauce
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp dill pickle relish
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
Preheat an oven to 400°F.
Season the tilapia filets generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Place the filets com a baking tray covered in foil. Coat the foil with cooking spray to prevent sticking if necessary. Bake the fish for 10-12 minutes, until the filets are cooked through.
While the fish cooks, prepare the tartar sauce. Combine the mayonnaise, relish, mustard, and lemon juice in a bowl. Mix well to combine. Once fully blended, place the tartar sauce in the refrigerator
When finished, remove the filets from the oven and allow them to cool. Once the filets have cooled, use a fork to flake the fish into small bits. Add the flakes tilapia to a large bowl. Add the green onion, parsley, lemon juice, breadcrumbs, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, dill, and eggs to the bowl. Use your hands to mix the ingredients into the fish. Continue mixing until everything is fully blended.
Scoop ½ cup portions of the fish cake mixture into your hands and form them into round patties. Repeat until all of the fish cake mixture is used.
Set a pan over medium-high. Coat the bottom of the pan with vegetable oil. Add four fish cakes to the pan and fry until the bottom browns, about 2 minutes. Flip the cakes and fry until brown on the reverse side, about 2 minutes more. Remove the fish cakes from the pan and reserve on a plate. Repeat this process in batches of four until all of the fish cakes are fried. The recipe should yield 8-10 fish cakes in total.
I recommend serving two fish cakes with tartar sauce and a salad. Maybe some fries too wouldn’t hurt… Either way, enjoy!