It’s been almost one full week since Kevin and I started working from home. Working from home has its perks (peace, quiet, and tons of cooking), but also has its downsides (lack of social interaction and isolation). Kevin and I tend to be homebodies, so working from home has been mostly positive. Aside from the occasional walk to toss out the garbage, we’ve been mostly confined in our home. Being at home has allowed me to cook up a storm in the kitchen. I’ve been cooking mostly with ingredients found in my pantry freshened up with some aromatics, fresh herbs, and pantry sauces. For breakfast each day of this week, I made a variation of my sunrise smoothie served alongside a lightly fried egg and toast. Lunch and dinner have been a variety of my favorite tried and true recipes and some new test recipes. Kevin and I both enjoyed seasoned vegan mac, pizza, and garlic knots with marinara sauce on Monday, baked potatoes with seasoned sour cream, and my favorite baked ziti enhanced with garlic, leeks, onions, kale, and bacon on Tuesday. Wednesday featured deconstructed roasted cumin cauliflower tacos, and nut-based meatless meatballs. Even earlier this week, on Sunday, I made the yummiest Asian fishcakes. I’m excited to share my recipe for Asian fishcakes because they were absolutely amazing. Even Kevin (who absolutely abhors most seafood) ended up loving my crispy Asian fishcakes. I shied away from cooking seafood for the longest time because Kevin would not eat it. His reaction to seafood can best be described as the kid’s reaction to salmon in the Kraft dinnertime bliss commercial. The first time I saw the commercial, I just had to send a link of the commercial to Kevin. When Kevin saw the commercial, he laughed out loud because he knew the commercial was on point with capturing his feelings towards seafood. The commercial had me rolling in laughter. When I made a batch of my crispy Asian fishcakes, I wasn’t sure Kevin would even eat them. Surprisingly, he ate all of them and said he wouldn’t mind eating fishcakes more often. When he said those words, I knew my crispy Asian fishcakes were a keeper. Kevin didn’t eat a lot of fishcakes growing up, but I did. My grandfather used to make fishcakes and meat cakes a lot throughout my childhood. He would spend almost an hour pounding fresh fish from a local supermarket into patties during special occasions. I always looked forward to his labor of love throughout the year. My version is much simpler and takes almost no time to make. It features a couple cans of white tuna, a few aromatics, some pantry sauces, and binders. Once cooked, the fishcakes are packed with immense flavor and develop a crispy exterior. The fishcakes are perfect for lunch and dinner and can be served with some steamed jasmine rice and blanched Asian greens.
For the crispy Asian fishcakes:
· ½-inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced
· 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
· 2 stalks of scallions, thinly sliced
· 6 sprigs cilantro, stems removed and chopped
· ¼ red onion, finely diced
· 2 teaspoons soy sauce
· 2 teaspoons fish sauce
· ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
· 1 lime, zested and juiced
· ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
· 2 (4.6-ounce) cans of white tuna, drained
· 1 large egg
· 2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar
· vegetable oil, for frying
· Lime wedges, for serving (optional)
· Cilantro, for serving (optional)
Directions:
1) In a large bowl, combine the minced ginger, minced garlic, sliced scallions, chopped cilantro, diced onion, soy sauce, fish sauce, crushed red pepper flakes, lime zest, and lime juice. Toss in the panko bread crumbs, drained canned tuna, large egg, and confectioners’ sugar.
2) Use your hands to mix together all of the ingredients until well blended. Form round patties with your hands. The patties will be very loose, but once cooked, they should firm up.
3) Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil into the skillet. Once hot, add the fishcakes, about three patties at a time. Fry for about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the fishcake patties to a serving plate. Serve with lime wedges, fresh cilantro or both, if desired.
Takeaways: My recipe yielded about six small fishcake patties. The fishcakes can be served on their own for a lighter meal or alongside some steamed jasmine rice for a fuller meal.