Continuing my exploration of the US Food Administration's push to get American's to use more potatoes in place of wheat, this month I looked at several recipes for fish cakes. I've tried similar recipes in the past, but they always used bread crumbs help create the patties. It was surprising how well potatoes actually work as a substitute.
The USFA's pamphlet Hawaiian Fish and How to Cook Them had two recipes, one for baked fish cakes and one for a fried version.
 |
The March 1918 Ladies' Home Journal article The New Ways in Which I Serve Fish contained a similar recipe.
My adapted recipe pulls elements from all of these recipes. The recipe for baked fish cakes calls for a beaten egg and this works really well to bind the patties together. Because I have a family member with a severe gluten intolerance I wanted to avoid using flour, as called for in the one of the recipes. Dipping the patties in bread crumbs gives them a nice crispy texture, but I would eliminate that step to avoid gluten, if necessary. Dusting the patties with corn starch might be a crispy surface substitute.
As for what kind of fish to use, feel free to experiment. Leftover tilapia and salmon were both great. There were a lot of wartime recipes encouraging the use of canned fish, so I tried a canned salmon version. This mixture was much wetter. If you try it, you'll need to add flour and/or bread crumbs to help the patties hold together.
World War I Fish Cakes
2 cups potato, cooked and riced or mashed
1 cup fish, cooked and flaked.
1 tablespoon melted butter, bacon dripping, or other fat
1 egg, well beaten
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Panko bread crumbs (optional)
Mix all the ingredients together well. Shape into six patties. Dip each patty in bread crumbs. Heat oil in a large skillet and when hot fry the patties until golden on each side.
Comments
Post a Comment