I love easy things that taste complicated. Enter: cilantro lime fish cakes. If you have had a crab cake, it’s the same idea. You take fish, bake it, mash it into spices and binding ingredients and roll them up into cakes to pan fry. There’s so much room to experiment and play with flavor with a dish like this. In fact, I think I’m going to begin cake-ifying all of our food. Since Chris and I first made these, they have been a staple dish in our weekly dinner rotation. These fish cakes are bright and bursting with fresh flavors. They are filling without being overly heavy, so I never feel like a blob after I consume them. We like them a little on the spicy side, but you can always tone down the sriacha and chili powder if you like. You can always dip them in sriacha in post. We like to pair the fish cakes with a small arugula salad and a simple vinaigrette. We have added our easy salad recipe below! If you want to go another route, you can always grill some veggies--brussel sprouts or zucchini perhaps. The cakes go great with many sides. Since it has a Mexican lean, you could also incorporate some elote or homemade guac. Anything!

When it comes time to roll the cakes, you could do your best to cobble them together with a couple of spoons. However, you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t just use your hands. Wash them up thoroughly first but then you gotta get your hands in there. They should stay together as well as possible. If you feel you have done your best to roll them into cakes but they’re falling apart before your eyes. You may want to add a little mayo and/or panko to bind them a bit more. Just don’t overdo it. I’m breaking it down with precise measurements even though tilapia sizes may vary and personal preferences certainly come into play. Use your best judgment and once you’ve made them a couple times, you’ll be able to whip up your ideal fish cake every time.

Have you made a savory cake before? Aren’t they fantastic? And gone much too quickly. Sigh…I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday. Cake-ify something today.

Cilantro Lime Fish Cakes

2 Large or 3 Medium Tilapia Filets
2 Garlic Cloves (Finely Chopped)
1/2 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs
2.5 TBSP Mayonnaise
1 TSP Chili Powder
1 TBSP Fish Sauce
1 TBSP Sriacha
1 TBSP Cilantro (Finely Chopped)
Juice from ½ of one Lime

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tilapia filets on baking sheet. Drizzle each with olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 11 minutes.
Prep ingredients while tilapia bakes. Finely chop cilantro and garlic, juice lemon; set aside.
In a large bowl, shred the baked tilapia filets with fork as finely as possible.
Add mayo, panko, fish sauce, sriacha, chili powder, ginger, cilantro and garlic. Mix well with fork.
Using hands, roll combination into 4-6 cakes.
Using a large skillet over medium heat, pan fry cakes 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown

Arugula Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

Baby Arugula
½ One Shallot
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard.
1 1/2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar.
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
Pinch of Kosher Salt
Pinch of Freshly Ground Pepper

In a small bowl, add dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Whisk vigorously until well combined.
Chop half of one shallot.
Add shallots and salad dressing to arugula. Toss to combine.