Salt fish cake is a popular Guyanese street food made with salted fish (salt fish in Guyanese Creole), potatoes, fresh herbs and aromatics. The fish cake is typically made with salted banga mary, a white fish popular in Guyana. You can also make it with salted cod or my favorite, salted Alaskan pollock. Fish cake is typically served with pepper sauce or mango sour, a spicy chutney-type condiment. Although fish cake with mango sour is the perfect appetizer, fish cake can also be eaten as a meal served with dhal and rice. It is also most often topped with sour and wrapped inside a dhal puri (a yellow split pea-filled flat bread). This dish is sure to become a favorite, no matter how you choose to enjoy it.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 12 fish cakes (6 servings) |
Ingredients
- 1 green (unripe) mango
- 1 yellow mango (with yellow but firm flesh)
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 3 wiri wiri peppers or 1/2 habanero, diced
- 1/2 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 pound boneless, skinless salted Alaskan pollock fillets (or other salted white fish)
- 4 cups boiling water
- 1 lemon, halved
- 8 ounces gold potatoes, peeled and diced
- 6 cloves garlic, grated
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 large egg, whisked
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves remove from the stems
- 2 wiri wiri peppers or 1/2 habanero, seeded and finely chopped
- 1 yellow onion, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups sunflower oil or similar high-heat oil suitable for frying
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- For the mango sour: Peel the green and yellow mangoes and slice the flesh from the pit. Add the flesh to a medium saucepan with the garlic, wiri-wiri peppers, onion, salt and 2 cups water and mix together. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover with the lid slightly ajar, to prevent the mixture from boiling over. Cook until the mangoes are soft and the liquid reduces by one-half, 15 to 20 minutes. Use a potato masher, fork or immersion blender to blend the ingredients together to form a smooth sauce. Allow the sauce to cool completely before serving.
- For the salt fish cake: Rinse the pollock fillets under cold water to remove as much of the residual salt as possible. Add to a medium heatproof bowl and cover with the boiling water. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon halves and add the halves to the bowl. Let steep for 15 minutes to soften the fish.
- Meanwhile, add the potatoes to a small saucepan, cover with water (about 4 cups) and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and continue to boil until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain and crush with a potato masher or fork until completely smooth.
- Discard the water and lemon halves from the fish, then rinse the fillets under cold water, being careful as they may fall apart. Add the fish to a clean bowl and, using your fingertips, flake the fish into tiny pieces – the smaller the better.
- Add the flaked fish to the mashed potatoes, then add the garlic, scallions, egg, thyme, wiri wiri pepper, onion and black pepper and mix together well to combine. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the mixture into the palm of your hands and shape into a tiny log with rounded ends. Continue with the remaining fish cake mixture.
- Add the oil to a deep heavy-bottomed pot, set over medium heat and heat the oil to 350 degrees F. (This should take 5 to 10 minutes depending on the type of pot.)
- In a shallow bowl or plate, combine the all-purpose flour, garlic powder and onion powder. Roll each fish cake in the flour mixture until completely coated. Shake off any excess flour, then add the coated fish cakes to the hot oil in batches of 4 to 6 cakes to ensure even cooking. Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes, then flip and fry for an additional 2 minutes. Drain on a plate lined with a few paper towels. Continue with the remaining cakes.
- Serve the fish cakes with the mango sour.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 778 |
| Total Fat | 62 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 43 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Sugar | 20 g |
| Protein | 19 g |
| Cholesterol | 77 mg |
| Sodium | 463 mg |