Skip to navigation Skip to content
Print

Waitrose

Zoomer icon

Cod Fish Cakes

Back

 
 

Cod Fish Cakes

These fish cakes, with their lovely crisp coating and soft texture inside, are the ultimate comfort food. Cod goes well with lemon and garlic, so try serving the fish cakes with homemade tartare sauce or Waitrose Garlic Mayonnaise.

Preparation time:
40 minutes, plus 15 minutes cooling time and 30 minutes chilling time
Cooking time:
30 minutes
Total time:
1 hour 55 minutes 60 minutes 55 minutes
Makes:
 Makes 8 fish cakes
Serves:
 4

Ingredients

  • ½ pack flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 400g fresh Icelandic cod fillet
  • 2 large floury potatoes (about 400g), such as King Edward, peeled and quartered
  • 25g unsalted butter
  • Freshly grated nutmeg
  • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 4 tbsp plain flour
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper To garnish:
  • To garnish:
  • Rocket
  • Flat-leaf parsley
  • Lemon wedges

Method

  1. Poach the cod in enough simmering water to just cover it for 3-4 minutes, until the fish starts to flake and the skin pulls away easily. Drain, discard the skin and pat the fish dry on kitchen paper. Leave to cool.
  2. Boil the potatoes for 10-12 minutes, or until just tender. Drain well and mash until smooth. Beat in the butter, nutmeg, parsley and lemon zest, flake the cod into pieces and stir in, season to taste, then set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes.
  3. Divide the mixture into 8 and shape into ovals about 2.5cm thick. Cover and chill for 30 minutes or until required.
  4. Season the flour with cayenne and a pinch of salt. Dip the fish cakes in the flour until lightly but evenly coated. In a frying pan, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Fry the fish cakes (in batches if necessary) for 3-4 minutes each side or until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Arrange on a plate with the lemon wedges, rocket and flat-leaf parsley.

Cook's tips

Chilling the cod cakes in the fridge before frying them helps to prevent them from breaking up.

The fish cakes can be prepared to the end of step 3, then chilled for 24 hours or frozen for a month. If freezing, defrost thoroughly before continuing from step 4.

Variation

You can use other types of fish for this recipe. Smoked haddock and salmon are particularly good alternatives.

Comments and images

Average user rating 3 stars out of 5

Add your comment and share your thoughts and pictures with others.

No comments have yet been made

Add comment/image

Delete comment

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

Cancel

3 stars out of 5

Average user rating Based on 108 ratings

Thank you for rating this recipe. If you'd like to comment further on this recipe you can do so in the Customer comment & images section on the bottom of the page.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Click to rate this recipe


This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in January 2003