Herring Fishcakes
From World Champion: From Childhood to the Bocuse d'Or, by Geir Skeie

This is a general recipe for all fishcake mixtures. Instead of herring you can use coley, pollock, haddock, catfish, or salmon. The cakes may be boiled as fish balls if you don't like fried food.

When making fishcake mixtures, it is very important that everything should be ice cold, both the ingredients and the equipment. You could put the food processor bowl in the freezer for l0 minutes before using it.

Ingredients:

For the Fishcakes:

1 kg/2 lb 4 oz herring fillets (the skin can be retained as long as the scales are removed)
3 eggs
300 ml/10 fl oz whole milk
18 g/1/4 oz salt
black pepper
You can also add 1 sprig of parsley and the grated zest of 1 lemon, if desired

For the Browned Onions:

2 yellow onions
100 g/3-1/2 oz butter
salt

For the Cabbage:

1 summer cabbage/spring cabbage
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
50 ml/2 fl oz water

For Serving:

200 ml/7fl oz sour cream
boiled potatoes

Instructions:

For the Fishcakes:

Put the herring fillets in the food processor and blend for 2 minutes. Add salt and blend for a further minute. Add the eggs, and the parsley and grated lemon zest if desired, and mix well. Add the milk in a thin stream. Form the mixture into cakes using a moistened spoon and your hand. Fry in a pan with a little butter over medium heat. I fry them in the pan until golden, then transfer them all to a baking sheet and finish by baking them in the oven at 180°C/350°F for about 5 minutes. That makes it a bit quicker.

For the Browned Onions:

Cut the onion in strips. Put in a pan with the butter. Fry over low heat for about 20 minutes. The onion should be tender and golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.

For the Cabbage:

Cut the cabbage into 8 large wedges, keeping the stalk attached so it won't fall apart. Put in a saucepan with water in the bottom. Sprinkle with a little salt and spread the butter on top. Cover and cook over full heat. From the time it begins to steam until it is ready takes 3 to 4 minutes. It should be just al dente.

Serve with boiled potatoes and sour cream.

Yield: Serves 4

Submit your question
to Ochef