Any firm fish works to make fish cakes. Using shrimp paste as a binder instead of bread crumbs allows the flavor of the fish to stand out.
A long time ago, I read New York Times writer Mark Bittman’s recipe for crab cakes, in which he used a paste of fresh shrimp as the binder instead of bread or cracker crumbs. Bittman wrote that the shrimp paste allowed the flavor of the crab to stand out, without diluting its flavor with filler.
It made cakes that were easier to turn because they didn’t fall apart. They didn’t need to be dredged in flour. Just crab, shrimp, and few other ingredients. I made the recipe once, loved it and haven’t made it since — fresh crab isn’t in my budget these days, alas. Still, his tip stuck in my head.
Last week, I decided to make fish cakes for supper. They’re quick to prepare and don’t heat up the kitchen. Since I still have a little bit of that marvelous shrimp from Puerto Peñasco in the freezer, I decided to use Bittman’s tip in their preparation.
To go alongside, I recast a classic French remoulade sauce into something more Southwestern, lively with serrano chile and bright with lime juice and cilantro. Gosh, it was good.
After supper, I happened to speak with my friend Theo Paul, a research and development chef in Chicago whose knowledge of food science is so vast that I’ve never been able to stump him.
Why, I asked Paul, are cakes using shrimp as a binding agent firmer and easier to handle than those made with crumbs as filler?
He explained it to me this way.
The function of crumbs in a fish or crab cake recipe is to soak up water, which swells them and helps them fill the spaces between pieces of fish or crab. But, he said, we all know that wet crumbs are not strong or stable. That means that cakes made with crumbs must be handled gently in cooking, so they don’t fall apart when you turn them.
The shrimp paste, on the other hand, is 24% protein. Although we think of protein solely as a nutrient, it also has a functional component, Paul said. Grinding the shrimp with a little salt in a strong mixer such as a food processor causes the proteins to create a gel. “Think of hot dogs,” he said, reminding me that hot dogs are made from just such an emulsion of meats and seasonings.
“On a molecular level, the shrimp paste has allowed the protein strands to form new bonds that not only hold water, but cross-link with each other to create a new type of structure, that, when heated, forms an irreversible gel,” he said. “It is this gel that creates the firmer texture.”
I patted my satisfied tummy and thought how lucky I am to have genius friends.
Fish cakes with Southwestern remoulade
Makes about 4 servings
You’ll need a food processor for this recipe. Any firm fish works in these yummy cakes, from catfish, tilapia and ono to salmon (even canned) — you won’t taste the shrimp, only the fish. If you have leftovers, the fish cakes are also good chilled, and the remoulade is a good spread for sandwiches. An alternative presentation idea: Make teaspoon-sized cakes and use them as dippers for the remoulade.
Ingredients
For the fish:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
6 to 8 large (24-30 sized) shrimp, peeled, thawed if frozen
1/2 of a medium-sized red or sweet onion, cut into chunks
1 serrano chile, seeded and cut into pieces
12 ounces firm white fish, thawed if frozen
Pinch of salt
Black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
For the remoulade:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
4 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickle
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
1 tablespoon minced cilantro, plus additional for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Shredded lettuce, for serving
Preparation
To make the fish cakes, fit the metal blade into the food processor. With the machine running, drop the garlic clove through the feed chute and process until the garlic is finely chopped, about 30 seconds.
Stop the food processor. If the shrimp still have their tails, remove and discard them, or freeze them to make shrimp stock later. Place the raw shrimp, onion and serrano chile into the food processor. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped, about three times.
Add the raw fish, salt and a lashing of black pepper. Process until the mixture is a paste, pulsing three or four times. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate while you make the remoulade.
To make the remoulade, combine mayonnaise, mustard, chile, dill pickle, green onion, cilantro and lime juice in a small bowl. Blend with a rubber spatula. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.
To cook the fish cakes, heat the butter or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter begins to foam or the oil is fragrant, place 1/4-cup portions of the fish mixture in the skillet, flattening each portion with a pancake turner to an even thickness.
Let the cakes cook two to three minutes — you should see that the cooked portion is about halfway up the sides of the cakes — then flip and cook an additional three minutes.
To serve, place two fish cakes on a bed of shredded lettuce. Drizzle with about 4 tablespoons remoulade, and garnish with additional minced cilantro. Serve immediately.
Tucsonan Robin Mather is a longtime food journalist and the author of “The Feast Nearby.”
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August 05, 2020 at 06:45AM
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