There honestly are not many recipes in Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom associated with the Zora. We can assume a number of the fish and seafood dishes of northeastern Hyrule are likely of Zora origin, but not many of the recioes have direct links.
We know the Zora do eat seafood, so I began to ponder dishes that they might eat. Hylian rice is found throughout the plains of eastern Hyrule, and there are a bounty of vegetables and herbs grown on this side of the kingdom. This got me to thinking, wirh fish, rice, and vegetables, the Zora could very easily make fish cakes, and fish cakes seem a perfect common Zora meal. So, I decided to create Zora Fish Cakes!
This is an original recipe which uses simple white fish filets (I decided on tilapia) and combines them with rice, carrot, and some aromatics, including Zora Spice, to create small cakes which are fried in oil and then served with a sauce. The fish filets are oven roasted and then flaked with a fork. The fish meat is then combined with the cooked rice and other ingredients. This mixture is formed into small cakes by hand which are then lightly fried on both sides until browned. A bit of a Japanese inspired tartar sauce is made to dip the cakes.
The cakes are filling, and quite tasty. The rice makes for a great filler, and the vegetables and Zora spice enhance the flavor of the cake nicely. When dipped in the tartar sauce, it really does feel like you’re eating a Hyrulean version of a fish cake. If I was served this in Zora’s Domain for an evening dinner, I’d be a very happy Lanayru tourist!
Ingredients
2 lbs tilapia filets
2 eggs, beaten
⅓ cup green onion, thinly sliced
⅓ cup chopped parsley
½ cup carrot, grated
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cup Japanese rice, cooked
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2-3 tsp Zora Spice
Vegetable oil
Tartar sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup cornichons, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp hondashi
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.
To serve, place two fish cakes on a plate along with a portion of the tartar sauce. I recommend serving the fish cakes along side a salad. Enjoy!