Fish Poppers and Fish Cakes

I bought a piece of cod off the fish counter at the supermarket (at a bargain of £1.86!) I just asked for a portion for one person as I usually over make too much of the same thing and the freezer stash gets a bit repetitive. With this I ended up making 'fish finger' poppers and fish cakes and it was really easy!

For the fish fingers/poppers (makes 8) you will need:

A piece of raw fish - I used half a fillet of cod

Breadcrumbs (enough to coat the fish)

Plain flour (again enough to coat the fish)

1 egg

Vegetable oil

For the fish cakes (makes 5)

Half of a fillet of cod

1 small potato

1/2 white onion

1 tsp capers

Splash lemon juice

1 tsp Dijon mustard

A handful of fresh parsley (dried will work fine)

A handful of fresh chive 

Breadcrumbs (enough to coat)

Flour (enough to coat)

1 egg whisked 

First I started the fish poppers...

Cut the fish into strips or poppers, whichever shape you'd prefer. Leave to one side.

Place breadcrumbs into one bowl, flour into another and a whisked egg into another separate bowl.

Dip the fish in the flour, evenly coating. 

Then dip into the egg 

and then the breadcrumbs. 

Continue this until all fish is coated. 

In a frying pan, pour a little vegetable oil (around 1cm deep) and heat up on a medium heat. To check the oil it hot enough, drop a piece of breadcrumb mix into the oil, if it starts bubbling away - it's ready! 

Fry the fish for a few minutes each side until lightly brown and place onto kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.

For fish cakes...

Peel and dice the potato and boil until cooked. Meanwhile peel and dice 1/2 white onion and sauté until soft and golden. Drain the potato and leave both potato and onion to cool. 

Dice cod and place into a food processor. Add the herbs, mustard, capers and the potato and onion once cooled. Blitz until combined. Depending on how wet the consistency is, you can always add extra breadcrumbs to the mix. 

Get your three bowls of flour, egg and breadcrumbs ready. Shape a portion of the fish mixture into a patty and dip into the flour and coat, then the egg and finish with the breadcrumbs. 

Again heat vegetable oil on a medium heat and shallow fry each fish cake until golden (again for a couple of minutes) each side. The longer the oil has been heated, the quicker the fishcakes will brown! So you will need to keep an eye on them! Again leave on piece of kitchen to absorb any excess oil.