Help I can't make fish cakes

[sunglasses]

I have tried several times and always end up with a soggy mess of mash that I can't properly form into fish cakes and then when I fry them it's all a bit of a sloppy disaster!

I have followed recipes but as soon as I add an egg to the mixture it goes too sloppy.
Can anyone help?

Maybe you just shouldn't make fishcakes :o

I just use a normal-sized tin of pink salmon, mash it up, stir in half a tin of sweetcorn, beat an egg in and roll each cake in mashed-up Shredded Wheat and grated Parmesan before frying. It seems to work. If I'm feeling really fancy, I add a chopped green chilli and a dash of soy sauce to the mixture.

I can't help but love the title of this thread. Think it should be a new reality show.

Is your batter fishy ?.

chuck in some breadcrumbs to soak up the excess.

Use a smaller egg?

Don't add the whole egg. Whisk it well and add a bit at a time until you get the right consistency. Once you have formed the fishcakes, put them in the fridge for a least half an hour before you cook.

It's your mash!
Boil. Sit and steam a bit to dry off. Mash. Let it go cold. Add fish, spring onion, beaten egg and dash lemon jif juice.
Make oil or butter oil mix hot! Add, leave to crust don't turn too early!

I don't add egg - just have mash not completely cold and left over cooked salmon and chopped parsley. I make them in a burger press and chill a little before dipping in beaten egg and then breadcrumbs. They can be frozen un-crumbed.

You DO need the mash to be cold (otherwise it will cook the egg double quick - therefore the egg won't work to bind the mixture it will just poach). Think how fast an egg can cook - try slipping a whole one from a tea cup into boiling water - a minute later you've got a nice perfect poached egg. Eggs cook quicker than cabinet ministers under questioning. Never be scared of eggs - they're cooked as soon as looked at.

The mash needs to be cold, and for tip top fish cakes it ALL needs to be cold when the egg goes in. Not tepid.... but cold. The process of GENTLY stirring the egg into the mixture will cook the egg (trust me you're just altering the nature of the protein) then let it all sit still while you have a cuppa or slip out for a smoke in the garden... Now form the mixture up into (not too thick) cakes and get them in the fridge (for at least two hours). Although overnight is best for a hundred reasons.

When it comes to cooking you MUST (imho) brush with beaten egg and dip both sides in motza meal or breadcrumbs (and why wouldn't you) ? You want them to look like the pictures in the cook books right ? You can season the flour / motza with anything you like.

Semi hot (not smoking) pan of decent oil (any old kind will do but "spray" will fail) , then slip the cakes in like you're launching a ship. In for a couple of minutes each side.

Put them into the pan clockwise (starting at 12 or North) and set a two minute timer - then you can expertly have them all ready and perfect at once. The timer chimes - you CAREFULLY flip them all - set it for another ONE minute - when it chimes take the pan off the heat. Get your plates sorted and by the time you have it's all perfection. Serve them out in the order they were put in.

Case solved.