Perfect Salmon Cakes Recipe

These Perfect Salmon Cakes are the stuff your seafood dreams.Fresh fish combined with buttery sauteed vegetables are pan fried to perfection and served with a light, bright remoulade. Creating these delicious salmon patties as an impressive appetizer or fun main dish is sure to impress.

Perfect Salmon Patties with Tangy Remoulade

For Perfect Salmon Cakes start by making perfectly cooked salmon.

Cooking the perfect salmon loin or steak is really as simple as cooking it for the right amount of time.  Salmon is a rich, firm fish with a very distinct taste. It can be served lightly flavored or with other stronger flavors, but the overall texture and moisture are key to great salmon. For this recipe I used a fairly large salmon loin. It was about ¾” thick in the fattest part. To keep it moist, I opted to leave the skin on the salmon, and to set the oven for a higher temperature, and ultimately a quicker cook. Adding a touch of olive oil, and laying lemons over the top of the fish also help create moisture in the oven. The final cook time was only 15 minutes. This will vary a bit depending on the size of your salmon, but at 15 minutes, the salmon had a light pink and solid appearance. I was able to use a fork to flake pieces off and it was very moist.

Check Your Salmon Earlier than you would normally check it to make sure it doesn’t overcook.

I wish I could give you a magic number for the exact right amount of time to cook salmon every time, but I can not. Variables like the thickness of the fish and the oven itself can change that time. If you learn to look for the finished appearance and use a thermometer you can get it right every time. The center of the salmon should reach 165°. It should change from a dark pinkish orange that is bright and translucent to a lighter pink that is solid looking. 

Rather than going by a set time, check the internal temperature of the salmon as soon as you see a significant change in color. If you do not have a thermometer or aren’t sure if it is calibrated, use a fork at the thickest part of the fish to see if the salmon flakes apart. As soon as the color is light pink all the way through and it flakes apart it is done. 

Perfectly cooked salmon loin flakes apart with a fork and is a light pink color all the way through.

Once the salmon is cooked, let it cool enough to handle. Using a fork, break the salmon up into small flakes making sure to leave all of the skin behind. Place it in a large mixing bowl.

A Few Simple Items married together make for a distinct and complex flavor.

While the salmon is baking, wash and finely dice the garlic, celery, onion, red bell pepper, garlic, and parsley. Warm a small skillet on medium heat and add butter to the pan. Add all of the diced vegetables and cook until onions are translucent. Add the capers and let them warm through then set this mixture aside until the salmon is ready.

Soften the chopped vegetables in butter in a small skillet.

Make up the mixture for the Salmon Cakes

To bring the salmon cakes together, mix the flaked salmon with the sauteed vegetables and any butter remaining in the pan. Add the eggs and bread crumbs and mix until all of the ingredients are well combined. 

Mix Flaky Salmon with eggs, bread crumb, and cooked vegetables

Fry Up the Perfect Salmon Patties

Warm a large skillet on medium heat. It will take 2-3 round of frying to make all of the salmon cakes. Add ⅓ of the vegetable oil to the hot pan. 

Form patties into 3” by 1” patties and lay in the hot pan. Cook on for 3-4 minutes or until they are brown and begin to hold together. Gently turn and cook on the other side for 3-4 minutes and then transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Do this until all of the batter is used up, adding more oil between rounds if needed.

A Little Remoulade Is the Perfect Dipping Sauce

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl prior to cooking the Salmon Cakes, and set in the refrigerator until it is time to serve. Serve on the side or top each cake with a dollup of sauce.

A Beautiful Stack of Salmon Cakes topped with Tangy Remoulade ready to enjoy.

For more fun starters try these Hot Italian Sub Sliders.

"Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers." - Herbert Hoover
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/herbert_hoover_117348

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