What to Do with Leftover Fish
Cake and fry, that’s what. One of the ways that I manage to get dinner on the table in the midst of, well, life, is through recipes that use up leftovers, like this one. Leftover paneed fish all by itslef is no treat, but if you shred it, add a couple of eggs, a handful of bread crumbs, a bit of mustard, and a smattering of fresh vegetables, it morphs into a whole new dish. I serve these cakes over a bed of lettuce with a simple lemon juice and olive oil dressing and a sprinkle of cracked black pepper. Because I had it, I also topped these with the cilantro pesto from the night before. How I do love using things up in my fridge! The fish cakes are basically crab cakes made with fish instead–crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. While it’s hard to beat fresh crab cakes, these are a pretty good substitute for a weeknight dinner. And I imagine they would work with any kind of fish.
Leftover Fish Cakes
About a pound of cooked fish
2 eggs
1 cup green onions, minced
Half a red bell pepper, minced (or a whole one–half is all I had)
Zest and juice of a lemon
1/3 cup bread crumbs, plus more for coating
2 tablespoons Creole mustard (or mayonnaise)
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Shred the fish with a fork, and add it, along with everything else to the bowl. Mix thoroughly. Form into small balls, and then flatten (you’ll flatten them further with your spatula during the cooking, so leave them a bit round for now). Spread more bread crumbs on a plate, and coat both sides of the cakes. At this point, they can be refrigerated until ready to cook. When you’re all ready, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the cakes until very brown and crunchy on the outsides, turning once, about 4-5 minutes per side. Serve on salad greens and drizzle with equal parts lemon juice and olive oil.
January 12th, 2006 at 9:14 pm
I make a similar dish whenever I have leftover salmon. Delicious!
January 13th, 2006 at 5:08 am
Hmmm…it looks like Moroccan Chermuola to me. Think its the same cept for maybe extra spices in the moroccan. NIce way to serve the left over.
January 13th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
Smattering… what an excellent word.
January 18th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
These are making my mouth water. Yum!
September 1st, 2006 at 6:41 pm
I just googled you and found this post. I made these cakes up for dinner tonight and served them on a salad with lemony dressing. It was PERFECT! Thanks for the tip!
September 13th, 2006 at 4:58 am
[…] Reheated fish is just not to my liking. The texture is all wrong, and somehow the flavors sharpen unpleasantly in the refrigerator. When I make paneed tilapia, I like to make fish cakes with the leftovers, and cakes would work well with salmon too. But because we’d grilled a whole slab of salmon, I needed something that would last more than just one meal. My guess is that reheated fish cakes wouldn’t be so appetizing either. […]
March 11th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I’ll be making these tonight with leftover mauhi mauhi! Thank you!
June 8th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I just typed in “What to do with fish leftovers?” and this was the first thing that came up. I’ve never made fish cakes before, but I tell you, the cakes were actually yummier than the baked fish we had last night. Very nice recipe.
I didn’t have any bell peppers, but I did have some dried bell pepper flakes, so I threw in a handful, as well as some sun-dried tomato flakes.
With the amounts given here I was able to make 14 cakes, enough to feed four people. Perfect!
Thanks very much
July 8th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Just made this, actually the fish I had leftover was shark that I had broiled with lemon and parsley. I did not have any red bell peppers but I used some finely grated carrot for color instead. My husband loved these cakes. I had always seen people make fish cakes from canned fish and I never liked them. Since I am in South Texas, cilantro pesto was a natural and I whipped some up for the dish I served it over fresh spinach salad and it was wow. This was outstanding.
April 19th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Great way to use leftover fish…my hubby preferred it to the baked fish we had 2 days ago. This is a keeper. Thanks!
May 23rd, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Just wanted to say thank you. I’ve never made fish cakes before, but had a little bit of leftover snapper I wanted to use up. I kind of used your recipe as a jumping off point (didn’t have all ingredients, but substitutions seemed to work well). Thanks for an easy recipe that gave me the confidence to try this. It was a perfect light dinner over some baby salad greens. Actually, it was so easy and yummy, I cringe to think of the leftover fish I’ve wasted in the past for lack of a good recipe. I will definitely do this again.