Serves 8
These Italian inspired High Country salmon fish cakes are super simple to make and will have your family begging you to include them for all your culinary celebrations! Mandys Horseradish and Salvagno olives from Sabato combine to create the most tangy, salty and succulent fish cake mix ever. Drizzle them with roasted garlic aioli, a sprinkle of hard-boiled egg and the crowning jewels on top… A dollop of burst-in-your-mouth salmon caviar!
There’s nothing better (and luckier) than receiving a High Country Salmon home delivery! Fresh from the South Island canals, High Country Salmon is farmed in the crystal clear glacial waters of the Mackenzie country and is deemed to be some of the tastiest in the world. Unlike sea farmed salmon, these freshwater fish spend their lives swimming against the permanently strong currents of the canals, instead of lazing around waiting for the tide to turn. This results in a leaner fish with a firmer texture and a much cleaner mouth feel. You know that “this is just too rich and fatty” feeling you can get halfway through a serving of salmon? This just doesn’t happen with High Country Salmon.
THE FISH CAKES
1kg High Country salmon fillet
1 ½ large red onion, finely chopped
½ c roughly chopped Italian parsley
½ cup roughly chopped fresh basil
½ c pitted Salvagno black olives, coarsely chopped
5 T Mandy’s horse radish
2 Lemons, zested
2 t salt flakes (or less if you desire)
GARLIC AIOLI
1 bulb roasted garlic, mushed
1 c good quality mayonnaise
3 T lemon juice
3 T olive oil left over from olives
TO SERVE
Hard boiled eggs, chopped
Salmon Caviar
Freshly ground black pepper
Basil leaves
METHOD
Preparing the salmon: Remove the skin and bones from the salmon. Cut 400 grams of the fish into 1cm cubes. Cut 300 grams with a sharp knife to a fine dice. Mince 300 grams in a blender till slushy.
Place all fish cake ingredients in a bowl, mix well and refrigerate for one hour.
THE AIOLI
Mix all aioli ingredients together and pop in the fridge until ready to serve.
Divide the salmon mix into eight, and form into round fish cakes. Heat your Legacy pan on a medium heat (either stovetop or barbeque) and drizzle in 2 T olive oil. Fry a couple of minutes on each side.
**Your Legacy Pan will comfortably fit five fish cakes. Cook off the first batch and keep warm in a low oven as you cook the rest.
To finish, drizzle each fish cake with aioli, sprinkle chopped up hard boiled eggs on top, followed by big dollops of salmon caviar, a grind of fresh black pepper and a scattering of basil leaves.
Serve with crunchy roast potatoes and a salad.
It’s fish and chips, kind of… but different!
