Recipe: Salmon and Lemon Fishcakes

Unusually, this is a dish which can be constructed and then cooked in either of two ways, to significantly different effect. Steamed, the texture is soft, and the flavours of the herbs and of the sauces within the mixture are much more pronounced, whereas frying the fishcakes gives a crisp outer shell, which you break through to get at the flavours within. To my mind, either way is excellent....

For four.

Ingredients: 450g Salmon Fillet, skinned; 1 tablespoon Thai Fish Sauce*; 2 tablespoons Light Soy Sauce; 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger; 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice; scant teaspoon fresh Lemon Thyme; 1 generous tablespoon fresh Coriander, chopped; 1 Egg Yolk; seasoning, to taste.

*A modern version of Garum, the sauce so beloved of the ancient romans; made from anchovies, salt and sugar, this is the fermented liquid thrown off by the combination - and I think the commercially-produced product available these days must then be somewhat 'tidied up' for modern palates; years ago, in Greece, we made some Garum as an experiment, and the end result was enough to make anybody within smelling distance take to the hills! If you can't find Thai Fish Sauce for this recipe, I suppose you could try substituting finely chopped anchovies, but I suspect the end result would miss some of the edge that the sauce gives it.

Method

1. Finely chop the Salmon Fillet, either by hand, or else very carefully in the food processor (but be sure not to reduce it to a mush, if you do so)

2. Add the chopped Salmon to all the other ingredients, and mix thoroughly.

3. Divide the mixture into four, and shape each piece into a ball which you then flatten into a patty shape, tidying the edges as you do so.

4. Either Steam the fishcakes over boiling water for about four minutes, or else dredge lightly with Flour and fry in Olive Oil for about three minutes on each side (taking care as you turn them, to minimise the amount of 'drop-off' from the edges of the fishcakes.

Serve.