Salmon Cakes With Spicy Mayonnaise
Made With Canned Wild Salmon
- Servings: Serves 3 as a main course and 6 as a starter.
Canned salmon is wild salmon, processed and canned right when the fish are caught wild in Alaska. A 14-ounce can will make six cakes, serving three as a main course or six as a starter.
The salmon is already cooked so making these cakes is similar to making crab cakes -- combining the flaked fish with something to bind it together and then sautéing until heated through. In this recipe we use cracker crumbs and an egg as a binder. Any saltine cracker will do, but choose ones without salted tops, otherwise your salmon cakes may be too salty.
It's fine to discard any pieces of skin that you find in the can and you should drain off any liquid. But don't throw away the tiny bones -- instead just crush them in your fingers; they'll melt into the fish and you won't know they're there but the calcium will be a healthy boost to your diet.
I like to serve these cakes with a spicy mayonnaise.
Ingredients
- 1 14-ounce can wild salmon, drained with any pieces of skin discarded, and flaked into large pieces (crush any pieces of bones with your fingers and add to the fish)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup no-salt saltine cracker crumbs (crushed with your hands is fine; it should be a medium-fine crumb, not powder-fine nor too large) OR 1/3 cup panko
- 1/2 teaspooon dry mustard
- A pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon Sriracha Sauce or other hot sauce
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for sautéing
Directions
- In a mixing bowl combine the egg, mustard, salt, black pepper, Old Bay Seasoning, Worcestershire Sauce and Sriacha Sauce.
- Add the pieces of salmon and cracker crumbs or panko to the egg mixture. Using a fork, gently combine everything together but take care to not break up the pieces of fish too much.
- Using your clean hands, form the fish into six cakes of equal size, about three inches in diameter and about one-half inch thick. The patties may fall apart a little bit but just use your fingers to place them back together again.
- Add the olive oil to a sauté pan and place over medium high heat.
- Sauté the salmon cakes about two minutes a side until the surface begins to get golden brown and crusty.
- Serve immediately and pass a bowl of spicy mayonnaise.
Spicy Mayonnaise
1/2 cup regular or light mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha or other hot sauce
- Combine the mayonnaise and hot sauce. Taste and add more hot sauce if you want more heat but remember -- you can add but you can't take out -- so add more gradually and keep tasting until you get it right.
- Serve immediately and if any is left over, refrigerate.
See our link to an article in The New York Times about Sriracha Sauce, a spicy Asian sauce.
