Making Asian Fish Cakes - Patrick Shares His Asian Fish Cake Recipe

For those of you who have tried them, you know that Asian fish cakes are so good! Here is Wyoming, we have a fish that works well in this recipe and many anglers overlook this fish as a food source. I have to admit, I had never tried sucker until this year. Suckers are often used in one or two ways. The first is bait. Most anglers will cut them up and use them for catfish or lake trout bait. I did this method up until this year. The second is to make them into some kind of food. Some people enjoy sucker meat canned or pickled. There is a practical reason for this as the sucker species are extremely bony and both pickling and canning dissolve the bones. Many anglers throw them up on the bank of the river or lake and leave them for the birds and raccoons. That is primarily because most people look at them as a "trash fish" and don't ever try eating them. So, I am going to take you through a recipe for how to process them and feel free to use other kinds of fish in this recipe if you aren't willing to try suckers.

If you intend to try this recipe, I want you to know there are a few things you will need. You definitely need a sharp knife. If you don't have one, I have a link below to a knife that I use for all my fish filleting needs. It is 7.5" long, which is long enough to fillet most fresh water species. You will also need a food processor to grind the meat up.

I want to take a moment and caution you that because of the bony nature of suckers. You must be VERY CAREFUL when preparing them to ensure no one will get them stuck in their throat and choke on them (especially kids). To accomplish this, you must cut the fillets into small pieces and run them through a food processor. You can then check the meat in your hands to feel for any bigger bones. If you just don't want to take the risk, I recommend you use a white meat fish like cod or perch.

Fish Cake Ingredients:

• 1-2 lbs of sucker fillets (or other white fleshed fish like cod) with the skin and rib bones removed
• 2 Eggs
• 6 Green Onions Chopped
• 4-5 Cloves of Garlic Crushed and Diced
• Saltine Crackers - 1 Sleeve Crushed
• Worcestershire Sauce - 1 Tablespoon
• Soy Sauce - 1 Tablespoon
• Oyster Sauce - 1 Tablespoon
• Tapatio Hot Sauce - 1 Tablespoon
• Salt - 1 tablespoon
• Pepper - 1 Teaspoon
• Red Pepper Flakes - 1 Teaspoon

First, use your food processor to grind one sleeve of saltine crackers into a fine bread crumb. Then you can put them into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Next, you will want to cut your fillets into small pieces (especially if you are using sucker meat) with your fillet knife. This will help break up any pin-bones you have in the meat. Then you will want to put your fillets into your food processor and process the meat well enough to ensure you have broken down any remaining bones.

Once your meat is processed, take the meat, add it to your mixing bowl and crackers. Then you can add the rest of the ingredients in the list above and mix well. You want all the ingredients to mix together and be evenly distributed throughout your mixture. Then cover your mixture and place in the refrigerator for about an hour.

After your mixture has been sitting for an hour, take it out of the fridge and make it into patties. I like to make mine into palm sized patties. I take the patties and place them in a piece of Saran wrap, wrap it up and smash them with my hand on the counter. This helps form them into the shape I want. Once this is done, you can get ready to fry them up.

To cook the fish cakes, you can do it a few different ways. You can broil them in the oven on a pan or you can cook them in a fryer. I prefer frying them but you choose whatever works for you. If you do cook then in the oven, be sure you cook them all the way through. I would do this at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes. If you are wanting to fry them, I recommend using canola or peanut oil and using a propane or electric fryer. I heat the oil to no less than 350 degrees Fahrenheit and no higher than 400 degrees Fahrenheit. You don't want them to get too hot because they will burn. You also don't want the oil to be too cool because the oil will absorb into the fish cake and it won't taste good. I cook each side of the patty for about 3-5 minutes. I cook them till they turn a beautiful golden brown.

Once they are cooked, you are ready to serve them. I like to serve this dish with white rice and veggies. I prefer calrose rice because it is sticky and just seems to go well with any fish recipe. If you are looking for an alternative to rice, you can do baked potato or bakes sweet potato. Those sides will go well with this recipe.

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