Delicious Salmon Cakes

It's winter, and if you live as far North as I do, then you've got a ways to go before spring flowers and green leaves are included in your vocabulary again. It's about this time each year that I begin to think about how much I wish I lived further south, especially when I start hearing about people getting gardens ready. Oh well, if I can't live in a warm climate, I might as well enjoy a light and summer-like food dish!

That's what these salmon cakes are for me. They are refreshing and delicious. The addition of lemon peel and some hot sauce on the side trick the taste buds into thinking they're eating summertime food and at least for a moment I'm able to imagine that it's actually in the 70's instead of the 20's! : - )

You could easily make these salmon cakes with fresh cooked salmon, but this isn't usually the best time of year for purchasing wild-caught salmon, so instead I'm using canned salmon. All the rest of the ingredients are easy to come by, no matter the time of year.



What You'll Need: 6 salmon cakes

• 1 can, approximately 14 ounces of salmon
• 1/2 cup finely-diced onion
• 1/4 cup finely-chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• Zest of one lemon
• 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• Oil for cooking salmon cakes in, I used unrefined coconut oil and it was delicious
• Ketchup - for sauce
• Mayonnaise - for sauce
• Sriracha hot sauce - for sauce
• Lemon slices - for topping salmon cakes
  
• Diced fresh tomato - for topping salmon cakes
  

• 2 forks
• Large mixing bowl
• 1/2 cup measuring cup
• Large frying pan
• Plate with a couple pieces paper towel on it
• Spatula

Getting Started

Drain the canned salmon of all liquid and then place in bowl and using two forks, gently flake or break up the salmon until it's in relatively small pieces. Add onion, parsley, salt, garlic and onion powder, lemon zest and eggs. Mix all the ingredients together. Go gentle here, you don't want to turn you salmon into mush because you were mixing it too much. You just want to make sure all your ingredients are evenly dispersed. Finally, add 1 1/4 cup of the fresh bread crumbs and again mix until well incorporated. I used some fresh sourdough bread (see previous post) which I turned into bread crumbs using my food processor. Any fresh bread crumb should work.




Measure out 6 half cup portions of salmon mixture. Using your hands press and shape each portion into a 3/4" thick salmon cake. Place the extra 1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs onto a plate and coat each salmon cake in the crumbs.



Pour enough oil into frying pan to come 1/3 of the way up on the salmon cakes, so about 1/4" deep. Heat oil over medium high heat to not quite smoking. You don't want to fry the cakes too quickly or you'll be left with a cold interior, but you also don't want them to sit and absorb a ton of oil. Cooking them at medium high works well on my stove.

Fry for 3-5 minutes, until golden and then flip and fry the other side the same way. Remove salmon cakes with a spatula and place on a plate covered with paper towel. If you have to cook the salmon cakes in more than one batch, place cooked ones into a preheated 200-degree oven so they don't get cold.


While salmon cakes are cooking, you can whip together an extremely simple sauce for them.
Mix 1 tablespoon ketchup, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise and 1/2+ teaspoon of Sriracha hot sauce. Actually use as much hot sauce as your taste buds like. If you aren't a hot and spicy fan, either don't add the hot sauce or just a couple drops at a time until it reaches your desired heat level. An FYI, if you haven't used Sriracha hot sauce before, depending on how it's used, a little bit can go a long way.

Finally, for a little extra splash of color and freshness, place a small amount of diced tomatoes
on top of your salmon cakes when you serve them. Enjoy!!!