- Mix the sea salt into the fish mince and leave in a colander over a bowl to drain for 15 minutes.
- In a small pan, steam or boil the diced potato for 10 minutes or until tender.
- Leave until cool enough to handle, then mash.
- Add one finely diced spring onion, parsley and a pinch of chilli flakes.
- Squeeze any moisture out of the minced fish and stir into the potato mixture with a small egg.
- Adjust the seasoning to taste by adding black pepper and more chilli flakes if necessary.
- If the mixture is wet, add three tablespoons of breadcrumbs to create a malleable texture.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove from the fridge and divide the mixture into 12, shaping each into a rugby ball shape using two tablespoons.
- Heat a small frying pan with 5mm of oil in the bottom over a medium heat.
- Once hot, fry the croquettes in batches, turning occasionally for about 3-5 minutes or until the croquettes are golden brown.
- Serve hot with lemon wedges.
Fish scrap croquettes
- Prep time 15 mins
- Cook time 25 mins
- Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 90g fish mince
- 150g floury potatoes (for example, Desiree, King Edward, Maris Piper), diced
- 2 spring onions, finely diced
- 2 sprigs parsley, stalks finely chopped and leaves roughly chopped
- Pinch of chilli flakes
- 1 small egg
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp breadcrumbs (optional)
- Oil for frying
- Lemon wedges to serve
Recipe developed by eco-chef Tom Hunt
Makes 12 croquettes
Croquettes are a favourite of mine. I’ve made them since my first days cooking Spanish style food with my first head chef back in 1997. This recipe is a twist on that one which we made with salt cod. Salting the fish mince and letting it rest before cooking firms up the texture and gives it a similar taste to the Spanish style croquette. Buying whole fish and having them filleted or filleting your fish at home, will usually ensure fresher tastier fish than buying a fillet which may have been filleted days earlier.
Get ahead and make the mixture up to 24 hours in advance so that when you are ready to serve you can simply shape and fry the croquettes. As this recipe is for a small quantity of croquettes it only requires you to steam or boil one potato. Consider cooking enough potatoes to serve as a separate dish alongside this meal or to reheat later to save energy and always use an appropriate sized pan to prevent energy wastage.
