Cape Malay fish cakes: Simply delicious family cooking

If you have grown u near the Western Cape coast or been on holiday there, you’ve been in one of South Africa’s most varied culinary regions. One of the most popular cuisines along the coastline is Malay cooking, often known for it’s sweeter curries and aromatic dishes. These Cape Malay fish cakes are a perfect example of this style of cooking with the fresh seafood you can find along this popular region of the country, and now you can make them at home for your family.

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Cape Malay fish cakes suggestions

This recipe won’t give you that overly-processed pasty fish cake recipe with a batter around the outside you might remember from boarding school. You’ll be using fresh fish and not blending it into a paste so that the texture is more welcoming, and when frying will provide you with golden crispy edges that are a pleasure to bite into. The wholegrain mustard dressing adds some zest to the fish cakes to cut through the richness and you can also add a squeeze of lemon.

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Dive into some great traditional South African cooking with this aromatic Cape Malay fish cakes recipe with wholegrain mustard dressing.

Last updated on 9 August 2023

Cape Malay fish cakes recipe

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Irene Muller Course: MainCuisine: South AfricanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Total time

35

minutes

Ingredients

• 500 g 500 butterfish (if not available use salmon or cod)

• 250 g 250 mashed potato

• 2 2 red onions

• 2 2 eggs

• 1 knobs 1 fresh ginger, finely chopped

• 1 pinch 1 mild curry powder

• 1 pinch 1 chilli powder

• ½ bunch ½ parsley, finely chopped

• 2 2 freshly squeezed lemons

• Mustard dressing

• 2 tbsp 2 wholegrain mustard

• 200 ml 200 single cream

• 1 1 freshly squeezed lemon

• 1 pinch 1 salt and pepper

Method

• Preheat the oven to 190°C.
• Using a food processor, blitz the butterfish, still leaving it chunkey.
• Mix together all other ingredients but make sure it does not form a paste.
• Roll the fish mix into balls (120 g), lightly flour them and shape them into fish cakes.
• Heat vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan, lightly brown the cakes on both sides.
• Finish them off in the pre-heated oven for 8 – 10 minutes.
• Drizzle the whole grain mustard dressing over the fish cakes and garnish with a fresh side salad and lemon wedges.

Notes

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