If you like fried fish like me, you are in the right place. I adapted this recipe based on the classic croquettes recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the art of french cooking. Everyone in my family and friends love this recipe and I have made it countless number of times. The addition of white sauce (bechamel) gives it a nice rich creamy interior that’s velvety smooth. The advantage of bechamel is its creamy richness over other binders like potato or corn flour which can make the cutlet pretty dry and dense.
Come with me, lets make some awesome fish croquettes.
First pan fry or steam any fish fillet and shred it into small pieces. Keep aside. Add a tablespoon of oil to a pan and add in a teaspoon of dried Italian herb mixture. (Any store bought kind will do. Mine had oregano,thyme,dried garlic and basil). I learned a great tip from Chef Suvir Saran. He once told that waking up the spices and herbs in oil is the best method to bring them alive. Its the greatest indian technique of tempering spices called the tadka that not only works wonders on Indian cooking but to any cooking. It works every single time. I do it for all my cooking. Not just Indian. OK. Back to the pan. Add in the chopped onions,salt and fry till slightly brown.
Once the onions are slightly brown, add in the spring onions (scallions), minced green chillies (if using) and saute briefly until the spring onions wilt. Add it to the bowl along with the cooked shredded fish. Set aside.
Place 1/4 cup of flour in the same pan and gradually blend in 3/4 cup of milk with a whisk. Stir this mixture over low flame until mixture begins to lump.
Remove from heat and vigorously blend in one egg yolk. When smooth, beat over heat for 2 minutes to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat and add it to the fish mixture.
Add in a teaspoon of pepper flakes and mix well to combine. Add up to 1 cup of fresh bread crumbs (just pulse bread slices in a food processor until fine) and mix well to combine. Refrigerate the mixture at this stage for at-least 30 minutes. Make cutlets and dredge them with bread crumbs and shape into patties with fingers. Pat crumbs evenly on entire surface. Refrigerate the patties for 15 minutes (up to a day) before frying. If you wont be using the patties immediately, you can freeze them at this stage and use it for later use. Just thaw them and proceed.
Add a table spoon of oil to a pan and set on to medium flame. Add in the patties and fry for a minute on each side. Drain on paper towels.
Serve hot.
- 250 grams Fish fillet (Like Basa,Tilapia)
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian herb mixture (any store bought variety)
- 1 medium red onion, chopped fine
- 3 tablespoons chopped spring onion (scallions)
- 1 teaspoon minced green chilli (optional)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper flakes
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup All purpose flour
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 cup Bread crumbs for dredging
- 1/4 cup Oil for shallow frying
- Pan fry or steam the fish fillet and shred it into small pieces. Keep aside.
- Add Olive oil (sunflower, canola will work too) to a pan and add in a teaspoon of dried Italian herb mixture. Add in the chopped onions, salt and fry till slightly brown.
- Once the onions are nice and brown, add in the spring onions (scallions), minced green chillies (if using) and saute briefly until the spring onions wilt. Add it to the bowl along with the shredded fish. Set aside.
- Place 1/4 cup of flour in the same pan and gradually blend in 3/4 cup of milk with a whisk. Stir this mixture over low flame until mixture begins to lump.
- Remove from heat and vigorously blend in one egg yolk. When smooth, beat over heat for 2 minutes to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat and add it to the fish mixture.
- Add in a teaspoon of pepper flakes and mix well to combine.
- Add up to 1 cup of fresh bread crumbs (just pulse bread slices in a food processor until fine) and mix well to combine. Refrigerate the mixture at this stage for at-least 30 minutes.
- Make cutlets and dredge them with bread crumbs and shape into a round with fingers. Pat crumbs evenly on entire surface.
- Refrigerate the patties for 15 minutes (up to a day) before frying.
- Add a table spoon of oil to a pan and set on to medium flame. Add in the patties and fry for a minute on each side. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot.
