These fish cakes are made with salt cod and are based on a recipe from my father-in-law. It is worth the effort to find salt cod, I assure you. In this salt cod recipe, the mild saltiness of the cod brings out a completely new level of taste. A Portuguese fishing skipper is the expert when it comes to fish. Emeril himself would be pleased! Serve alongside a tasty tartar sauce.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 8 hrs |
| Total Time: | 9 hrs |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 18 cod cakes |
Ingredients
- 1 pound salted cod fish
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning
- ground black pepper to taste
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup olive oil for frying
Instructions
- Place salt cod into a bowl and cover with cold water. Refrigerate for 8 hours; pour off water and replace it with fresh water every 2 hours.
- After soaking cod for 8 hours, rinse in cold water and cut into 3-inch portions.
- Place cod and potatoes into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender and cod flakes easily with a fork, about 20 minutes. Drain and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Place potatoes and cod into a mixing bowl. Season with seafood seasoning, pepper, and parsley; roughly mash with a potato masher. Stir in eggs and onion until evenly combined; there should still be pieces of cod and potato in mixture.
- Place flour into a shallow bowl. Form cod mixture into golf ball-sized pieces and roll in flour. Press between your palms to flatten slightly.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook cod cakes in hot oil until golden and crispy on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes all of the salt that has been rinsed from the cod and the full amount of the breading ingredients. The actual amount of the breading consumed will vary. We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and the specific type of oil used.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 396 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 32 g |
| Cholesterol | 177 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 54 g |
| Saturated Fat | 1 g |
| Sodium | 5436 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
thanks
BEST!
It was quick and easy to make.
Exactly my moms recipe I grew up with in MA. We put tomatoe soup on top try it it is good.
To save calories I dusted the cakes with bread crumbs and baked at 500 degrees for 10 minutes on the upper rack. Came out hot, crunchy on the outside, flaky on the inside. Great simple delicious recipe!
This is my favourite recipe for cod cakes.. they are awesome..
Mother’s Day wife loved it
Very tasty. I skipped the “roll in flour” step though. I refrigerated the formed cakes for an hour before frying, and they held together just fine. Used the traditional Portugese 2-spoon-forming technique, rather than golfball method. Had plenty left over uncooked that I froze for another day. I did grate the onion as another suggested, draining the juice before adding to the mix.
Needs more spice, so we added cilantro, pepper and garlic. AOK
Very easy to make – and excellent eating!
made it for a dinner party, everyone raved about them. followed directions. will be making them again, i especially liked the potatoes instead of bread crumbs.
I will make again. The cakes tasted just like the ones I had in Meat Cove Nova Scotia. Use a large pot to prevent boil overs.
excellent recipe. I’m going to deep fry them the next time to make them a bit more crisp.
I wasn’t going to change anything but was a tad short on the salt cod so I added a very well drained 5 oz. Tin of salmon. It was delicious. A keeper.
With the exception of leaving out the seafood seasoning I made these as written, I wanted an East Coast cod cake. I started out making the size specified as a test cake but found that the small size doesn’t cook long enough for the onion to soften. I then made them about three sizes larger and they were just as I remembered. Thanks for sharing.
I rolled it in balls the size just smaller than Golf balls and Deep fried them . Their the best
I made it just as the recipe stated. It turned out delicious . Thanks.
Hello! Why do you have to soak the fish for 8 hours?
This recipe is awesome! First time I’ve used salt cod, but it won’t be the last! I did double the seasoning and after tasting the mash decided to add a little salt. I soaked the cod for 24 hrs, changing the water several times. The cakes are bound with potato and egg, not flour or crumbs which made it glutton free. Rather than a lite coating of flour for frying, I used white rice flour. The little cakes were delightfully crispy. We’ll be making this often.
mine came out great! half of mine I used bread crumbs and the other half just flour while deep frying them in canola oil. also I boiled the fish and potatoes in a half milk and water solution, not sure if it made a difference but they are amazing!
Yum! I added just over a half of a garlic bulb to ward off the mosquitos and omitted the fish spice as I didn’t have any. It’s quite the messy recipe, but it was really really good. Served it with carrots with garlic butter.