Fishcakes are always a crowd-pleaser. They’re easy to make, and you can use whatever type of fish you can get your hands on at your local fishmonger, or stick to your own preference. Similar to fish fingers and chips, this is one of my childhood favourites, only a little tastier.
When I am cooking at home I buy my fish from our local market in Letterkenny or from Starcrest Seafoods, which started doing deliveries during the Covid-19 lockdown. I buy all my other ingredients from Letterkenny Real Food & Farmer's Market and from local farmers like Ballyholey Farm, where I get my vegetables and eggs. Donegal rapeseed oil is available online from donegalrapeseedoil.ie. I love cooking with local produce and use it as much as I can.
Chris Molloy is chef and co-owner of Lemon Tree Restaurant, in Letterkenny, Co Donegal
FISHCAKES, PARSLEY SAUCE, SOFT HEN EGG, TRUFFLE CHIPS
Serves six
Ingredients
250g dry mashed potato (no butter, no cream)
150g cooked fish – hake, smoked haddock, trout or whatever else you prefer
1tbsp chopped dill
2tbsp chopped parsley
1 leek, chopped and lightly cooked in Donegal rapeseed oil (use half in the fishcake mix and half to serve on the plate)
1tbsp chopped capers
1tbsp truffle mayonnaise (recipe below)
Achill Island sea salt
Donegal rapeseed oil
Lemon-flavoured Donegal rapeseed oil
50g breadcrumbs
50g flour
7 eggs (one for egg wash, six to serve with dish)
100ml milk
For the truffle mayonnaise
2tbsp chopped chives
200g mayonnaise
50g truffle oil
For the parsley sauce
500g parsley
For the truffle chips
6 large baking potatoes
Parmesan cheese
Method
1 In a bowl mix the mashed potato, cooked fish, mayonnaise and all the herbs and capers.
2 Season with salt and a drizzle of lemon-flavoured Donegal rape seed oil.
3 Shape the mixture into six even-sized fishcakes and place in your fridge.
4 In a bowl beat the egg and milk together.
5 In a separate bowl have the flour ready, and in a different bowl the breadcrumbs – you should now have three bowls set up to coat your fishcakes.
6 Coat each fishcake by dipping it first into the flour, then into the egg and milk mix and then into the breadcrumbs; then put them back in the fridge.
7 Heat a frying pan with some rapeseed oil in it and cook the fishcakes on each side until golden, then place in the oven at 200 Celsius for 10 minutes. Use the same pan to gently fry the six eggs; while the yolks are still soft, set the eggs aside on kitchen paper. Use the same pan again to heat the other half of the leek, to serve your fishcake on.
8 For the truffle mayonnaise, whisk the truffle oil into the mayonnaise, then add the chopped chives; store this in the fridge until you are ready to eat.
9 For the parsley sauce, bring a pot of water to the boil, add the parsley, cook for 30 seconds, take it out of the water and then blitz in a food processor. Season with sea salt, then keep warm for serving.
10 For the truffle chips, peel the potatoes and cut into thick chips. Boil the chips in salted water for eight to 10 minutes, or until just soft. Drain away the water and leave them until dry.
11 Heat a fryer to 180 Celsius. If you do not have a fryer at home, fill a pot with enough oil to cover the chips, then shallow-fry them.
12 Cook the chips until they are golden brown, then drain them on kitchen paper and sprinkle with sea salt. When serving, drizzle some truffle oil over the chips and grate over some Parmesan cheese. Serve with the truffle mayonnaise on the side as a dip.
Kitchen Cabinet is a series of recipes from chefs who are members of Euro-Toques Ireland, who have come together during the coronavirus outbreak to share some of the easy, tasty things that they like to cook and eat at home #ChefsAtHome
