Fish Cakes and Bread

by Samantha Bacchus McLeod

In Guyana, these fish cakes were made with either local tropical fresh white fish, or with salted cod. But any fish will do, as long as it is well-seasoned and fried to perfection

This Fish Cakes and Bread recipe is inspired by my days as a young school girl, when on my way to school in the mornings I would deliberately walk by the early morning street food vendors.

This was long before the food truck phenomenon. These vendors were always men (usually women cooked the food and sent the men off to market to sell the goodies). The men rigged up little carts to the back of their bicycles to fetch and carry their goods, they were always ringed around the main square where the taxis and buses congregated.

The aromas of potato balls, egg balls, roti-wraps, and fishcake and bread would fill the air. BTW…if you would to know what these are, check out Alicia’s Pepperpot for many Guyanese recipes.

There was one particular street vendor whose little glass case, steamy with hot fish cakes and bread, would draw me like a bee to the honeyed nectar of tropical flowers.

The aromatics in the golden-brown fishcakes were truly mouth-watering – the bread was just-baked and soft, slathered with butter that melted into the bread, and the vendor would stuff a freshly buttered bun with a golden fish cake, add a couple of thin slices of cucumbers that warmed to a cooked paleness, he would then add a dollop of hot pepper sauce and hand over the fish cake and bun with a wink and a knowing smile.

The first bite, plus the kicky heat from the pepper sauce, fragrant with simmered onions, garlic and limes, always elicited an audible wow from me.

The vendor would nod and send me on my way. I think he needed to hear that reaction, it was how he measured their success.

In Guyana, these fish cakes were made with either local tropical fresh white fish, or with salted cod. But any fish will do, as long as it is well-seasoned and fried to perfection.

Fish Cakes and Bread

Rating: 5.0/5
( 1 voted )
Serves: 4 Prep Time: Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

2-3 cups cooked fish, skin and bones removed

1 tablespoon Green Seasoning

½ cup panko, or homemade bread crumbs

1 baby potato, boiled and smashed

1 raw egg

1 teaspoon lemon juice

salt to taste

½ cup flour to dust the fish cakes

¼ cup vegetable oil for frying the cakes

For the final presentation:

4 brioche burger buns, buttered

4 lettuce leaves

12 slices cucumbers

Hot sauce to taste

Instructions

Mix the salmon, seasoning, panko, potatoes, egg and lemon juice, and salt together. Mix well.

Form into 4 patties (about ½ inch thick). Dust both sides in the flour.

Heat the oil, and fry the patties on both sides until golden brown.

Make your burgers (Fish Cakes and Bread).

Serve with a green salad, and/or French fries, or just enjoy on its own. 

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