Fish Cakes with Wild Rice

Wild rice adds a bit of colour and texture to the fish cakes. Just make sure you cook the wild rice completely before adding to the fish cakes, because the cakes cook up quickly.
Pike cakes are a natural because of the fish’s many bones. True, it’s not that hard to fillet a pike, and I have detailed instructions here, but it’s easier to fillet as normal, gently poach the fish in chicken broth, and then flake out the meat. Needless to say this recipe can be done with any white fish, but perch, pike or walleye work really well. Trout would also work well, here, especially Great Lakes lake trout or steelhead.

½ lb flaked fish, cooked and flaked (perch, pike, walleye or trout)
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs
½ cup wild rice, cooked
¼ cup red onion, minced
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
½ tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh chives, chopped
¼ cup butter, lard or vegetable oil, for cooking

To Serve:
green salad
citrus vinaigrette
saffron aioli

Make sure any little bones are out of the fish. Mix everything together in a large bowl. Divide the mix into 8 roughly equal parts and form into patties. If you have time, set the patties on a cookie sheet in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up. You can skip this step if you are rushed.

Fry the patties in the butter until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes per side.

Serve with a green salad, citrus vinaigrette, and a saffron aioli.

Makes 4 servings.