When the price of crab became prohibitive for making large quantities of crab cakes, I devised these codfish cakes as an alternative. Admittedly, they aren’t as toothsome as crab cakes, but they are quite delicious in their own right.
Lightly film a baking pan with olive oil. Lay the codfish fillets in the pan, sprinkle with sea salt, more olive oil, and bake them for 20-30 minutes in a 350-degree oven until the fish flake easily. Remove from the pan and flake into small pieces in a large mixing bowl.
Baked fish fillets.
Mince shallots and cook in a small pan with 2 tablespoons of butter until softened. Add fresh, soft breadcrumbs or panko crumbs, and cook until moistened.
Minced shallots.
Cooking shallots and soft breadcrumbs.
Beat the egg and whisk in the mayonnaise, mustard, pepper flakes, and Old Bay Seasoning.
Beating the eggs, mayonnaise, mustard, and seasonings.
Add the parsley and the egg mixture to fish, and mix lightly with a fork.
Combining the ingredients.
Place dry breadcrumbs on a plate. Pat the fish mixture into 3-inch cakes and coat on both sides with the breadcrumbs. Chill the cakes for 2 hours or overnight.
Breading the cakes.
Melt the remaining butter in a sauté pan, and fry for about 3 minutes on one side. Turn and fry the other side until brown, about 3 minutes.
Frying the fish cakes.
Serve with lemon wedges. Any leftovers may be refrigerated, frozen, and reheated.
Finished fish cakes.
