Wild Salmon & Kaffir Cakes with Ponzu Sauce

I did a seafood & citrus cooking class last week at the Cookshop in Vancouver and these salmon cakes were one of the items on the menu.

We used wild Pacific Salmon which is oilier than the sockeye I'd normally use and much more 'forgiving' as the chef kept saying. What he meant was that Sockeye being a drier fish is much easier to ruin when frying in recipes such as this one.

The salmon cakes were simple to prepare and delicious. They were peppered with kaffir leaves which added a citrusy bite to the natural sweetness of the salmon. The little cakes were coated with Panko crumbs and then gently pan-fried about a minute or so on each side.

We made a Ponzo dipping sauce using soy sauce, brown sugar, green onions, ginger and lime juice.

The chef used an ice-cream scoop to make the salmon cake rounds which worked brilliantly and kept each cake the same size. I promptly raced out and bought one!

I'm submitting this post to Weekend Herb Blogging being hosted this week by Wandering Chopsticks.

Wild Salmon & Kaffir Cakes Recipe

1 lbs wild pacific salmon filet
1 egg white
3 tbs of cornstarch
3 kaffir leaves, thinly sliced
1 tbs of freshly grated ginger
1 tbs chopped green onion
2 tbs freshly chopped parsley
1/2 tbs of wasabi paste
1/2 cup of panko crumbs and extra for coating
2 tbs of canola or vegetable oil

Ponzu Sauce Recipe

1/4 cup of soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 tsp of brown sugar
1 tbs of minced green onions
1/2 tbs of grated ginger

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
2. Chop the salmon into fine cubes. Combine with egg white, cornstarch, kaffir leaves, ginger, green onions, parsley, 1/2 cup of panko crumbs and wasabi paste. Mix well.
3. Form into small cakes using an ice-cream scoop or your hands.
4. Coat the cakes in remaining panko crumbs. Heat 2 tbs of oil in a pan over a medium high heat.
5. Gently fry the cakes for about 1 minute on each side or until golden. Transfer cakes to a warm oven while frying in batches.
6. To make the dipping sauce, combine all sauce ingredients together. Serve salmon cakes warm with dipping sauce on the side.

Comments

[maria v]

lovely patties, i love vegetables cooked in fritters, and your ones in this photo look so colourful...

[Marc @ NoRecipes]

Looks delicious. I like that this is mostly salmon, just how it should be:-)

[Chuck]

This looks and sounds delicious. I really like the lime leaves and ginger in the cake. Definitely need to give this a try.

[We Are Never Full]

Look gorgeous! Those colors! And the flavors! This is a keeper.

[Olga]

YUM!
Funny, I just made salmon cakes last night for dinner, but used canned salmon. They turned out good too!

[Mandy]

The mention of kaffir leaves makes my mouth water already! I am going to bookmark this recipe now.

[myfrenchkitchen]

this looks wopnderful syrie..I'm definitley making this for us one night for dinner...my husband will love it with your ponzu sauce.
ronell

[fanny]

oh those look absolutely delicious. I'm totally making them this week.

thanks for the inspiration
xx fanny

[Kevin]

These salmon cakes sound really tasty. I like using panko crumbs for a nice and crispy finish.

[Rasa Malaysia]

I have always been skeptical about salmon cakes, but when I tried them in London, I actually like them, quite surprisingly. Sometimes, we just have to try new things. :)

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Hi Syrie,
Thanks for your submission. I love the addition of kaffir lime in the salmon patties. I can just imagine the gentle citrus tang.

[syrie]

Thanks for stopping by Maria!

Hi Marc. I didn't think they'd hold together so well with just salmon but they were great. Using the ice-cream scoop really helped.

Hope you get to try it out Chuck. The Kaffir leaves were great in it as they balanced the rich salmon.

Thanks for visiting Olga! Canned salmon is pretty delicious too.

Hi Mandy, I've got quite a few leaves left over which I've frozen so I need to start thinking of something new to cook them with...Maybe some kind of dessert.

Thanks Ronnell, hope he enjoys them!

Thanks for visiting Fanny!

Hi Kevin, me too. They're a great invention and they don't get soggy!

Hi Bee. I think it's hit of miss when salmon cakes and I think I prefer them when they are smaller and crispier. Thanks for visiting!

Thanks for hosting this week Wandering Chopsticks!

[Myf]

Looks very interesting. Pics are soo nice!
I usually use mackerel for a similar recipe. My sis makes cute salmon balls similar like this one. Yummy! :-)

[Laura @ Hungry and Frozen]

They look gorgeous, I love that pinky-orange-coral colour of salmon and this fish goes so well with fresh Asian flavours...

[Kalyn]

Lovely photos, and it sounds delicious. I haven't heard of using the kaffir leaves like this, but the ones I get here are usually pretty dry, so I doubt they'd work.

[Syrie]

Hi Myf, mackerel sounds like a great idea. I love it but have never cooked with it. I think I might use it next time. Thanks for visiting.

Thanks Laura!

Thanks Kalyn. You can use frozen ones and just mince them really finely. I wasn't too sure about using them either but they really made the cakes!

[[eatingclub vancouver] js]

Beautiful-looking salmon cakes. We've been wanting to try making salmon cakes and we've also been wanting to try making something with kaffir lime leaves. Two birds with one stone.

Thanks for sharing and I'm bookmarking this one to make soon.

[mycookinghut]

This looks really delicious!

[Annie]

Hi,

we just made your salmon recipe:

http://chezannies.blogspot.com/2008/10/wild-salmon-cakes-with-kaffir-lime-and.html

Thanks!