Baked Fish Cakes

These fish cakes are a combination of my favorite crab cake recipe and baked fish recipe. The crab cakes are baked which eliminates the need for frying in oil. They are best served with some Aioli or tartar sauce.
The fish cakes use any type of white fish fillets (snapper, sole, etc.) and are lightly chopped up using a food processor. After the fish cakes are prepared, they need a good 30 minutes in the refrigerator to set. The key is to mixed the cakes with a gentle touch so you’ll end up with a very tender cake.
The crab cake recipe is a variation of the “Dungeness recipe: Mendocino’s First Prize Crab Cakes”, Chef Margaret Fox, Harvest Market, Fort Brag.

Ingredients
Method
Fish Coating
- Grind the 1 1/2 cups of Panko crumbs in the food processor. Remove from the processor and place in a medium bowl. Do not wash the processor since it will be used again for the cakes!
- Add the grated Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper to the crumbs and mix well. Set aside.
Fish Cakes
- Grind the 6 tablespooons of Panko crumbs in the food processor. Remove from processor and place in a large bowl.
- In a small skillet set over low heat, saute the shallots with unsalted butter. Let cool.
- In the large bowl with 6 tablespoons of ground Panko crumbs, add the cooled shallots, beaten egg, lemon zest, lemon juice, mayonnaise, parsely, Tabasco sauce, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly and let rest 15 minutes.
- Cut the fish into 1-inch cubes (this is just approximate).
- Add the fish to the now empty food processor bowl and chop using about 10 on and off pulses. You want the fish just slightly chopped.
- Once the panko+egg mixture has rested, add the chopped fish, and mix lightly.
- Depending on how many cakes you want, divide the fish mixture into cakes, placing the mounds in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Once you have made all your mounds, one by one, gently form each into a cake and coat with the seasoned coating.
- Place the fish cakes in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- When ready to bake, set the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the fish cakes from the refrigerator and top with the reserved lemon zest. Optionally, top also with a sprinkling of grate Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the cakes are lightly browned and the fish is cooked through. Serve immediately.