Halibut cakes with raspberry and caper mayonnaise

I spent a great deal of time, (alright, a few minutes), deliberating on whether I should call these 'fish cakes'. I couldn't do it. A fish cake to me is not a pleasant thing. Dry, flaky and tasting of week old fish, they have never ingratiated themselves to me. After these 'halibut cakes' last night, not much has changed.

'Reduce salt intake' is usually considered a worthwhile and healthy lifestyle choice, but when too little has been used, especially in something already mixed, is the loss of flavour worth the wholesome gain? 

They were tasteless, even though they contained 3 root vegetables, broccoli, cheese, halibut, beets, paprika and black pepper. The lack of salt rendered them as bland as the dry cafe variety I remember. The sauce rescued them, just, being both refreshing and very pretty. What is it about men and pink food? They hate it. Neil initially turned his nose up at the offending sauce, but then realised the cakes needed it, so surrendered to the extreme girliness. Anyway, I've added some salt to this recipe which needs it, believe me, and will produce a moist, tasty, interesting 'cake'.

Beets, like coloured jewels or candied fruits. I feel this obsession may be ending soon.

These cakes were made with the leftover celery root, parsnip and potato puree from my previous post. I've adapted the recipe to just use potato which is far more practical.

The cakes. Recipe at bottom of post

The sauce that caused so much offense. I've lately discovered how versatile mayonnaise can be and how well it mixes with other liquids to create a sauce like consistency. The recipe for this is at the bottom.

Recipe: Halibut cakes with raspberry mayonnaise and capers

1 lb halibut, cut into large chunks

1 cup mashed potato (or a mixture of potato, celery root and parsnip)

4 small cooked broccoli florets, finely chopped

3 small cooked beets, finely chopped

1 tsp salt (I know it sounds a lot but consider how much fish and bland potato you're using)

1/4 cup grated cheese (optional)

1 tsp paprika

black pepper

(Some chopped herbs like dill, parsley or oregano would also bump up the flavour).

oil 

Puree the halibut to a paste, place in a bowl and add all other ingredients. Use your hands to mix well and shape into 8 patties. Cover with cling film (Saran wrap) and pop in the fridge.

Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a pan over medium to high heat until hot. Fry the cakes until brown, crispy and firm to the touch. Remove and drain on paper towels. You could deep fry these which would make them even crispier, about 4 minutes total should be enough.

Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup raspberry vinaigrette

juice of half a lemon

2 tsp capers

A few twists of black pepper.

Add everything together well and serve over the cakes and on the side to dip.

 A better Halibut cake on day 2

I decided to take a more Asian route with some left overs the next day. I deep fried the cakes in some peanut oil and served them with a sweet chili dipping sauce. This was better, the chopped beets being a good substitution for water chestnuts which I would usually put into Chinese style fish cakes. They were crispier on the outside and more dense and juicy inside. An improvement.