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crispy deep fried gochujang fish cakes
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Gochujang Fish Cakes

Here's a batch of homemade spicy gochujang fish cakes with a crispy sesame breadcrumb coating & a flavourful filling that's made with potato, white fish, chilli paste, lime, garlic & dill.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Chilling Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: British, Japanese
Servings: 6 Fish Cakes
Author: Ben Racey

Equipment

  • Baking Tray
  • Mixing Bowls
  • Large Frying Pan
  • Deep Fat Fryer

Ingredients

Fish Cake Mix

  • 1.4 kg Maris Piper Potatoes (For 750g Mash - See Notes)
  • 500 g Skinless White Fish Fillets (Cod, Haddock, Hake Or Pollock)
  • 2 tsp Vegetable Oil
  • 50 g Unsalted Butter
  • 3 Garlic Cloves (Grated)
  • 1 tbsp Gochujang (See Notes)
  • 1 Lime (Zested)
  • 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Dill
  • 1 Large Egg (Lightly Beaten)

Breadcrumbing

  • 75 g Plain Flour
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 2 tbsp Milk (Whole Or Semi Skimmed)
  • 100 g Panko Breadcrumbs
  • 4 tsp Sesame Seeds (I Used 50/50 Black & White)

Gochujang Mayo

  • 150 g Mayonnaise
  • 10 g Gochujang
  • 2 tsp Lime Juice
  • 1 Garlic Clove (Grated)

Instructions

Fish Cakes

  • Preheat an oven to 200°c/180°c fan (392°f/356°f).
  • Place the potatoes onto a baking tray, pierce the skins in a couple of places with a knife then bake in the preheated oven until the inside are tender. This will take around 1-1½ hours. Once cooked, let the potatoes cool slightly before mashing.
    To check if the potatoes are done, poke them with a small knife. If it slides in with little to no resistance, they're ready!
  • Whilst the potatoes are cooling, cook the fish. To do this, first take the fish out of its' packaging, pat dry with kitchen paper then season with salt & pepper.
  • Next, set a large frying pan over a medium heat, leave to heat up for a couple of minutes then add in the vegetable oil & butter. Once the butter has melted, carefully add in the fish then cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until just cooked.
    You'll know when your fish is cooked when it turns opaque white. It should feel firm but shouldn't be falling apart.
  • Once the fish is cooked, transfer it to a tray & set to one side. Add the grated garlic into the pan, fry for 30 seconds then take the pan off the heat & stir in the gochujang to melt it into the butter. Pour the butter into a bowl then set aside to cool slightly.
  • Next, cut the potatoes in half & scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Weigh 750 grams of the potato into a large mixing bowl then roughly mash with a fork. Try to keep the mashed potato fairly chunky.
  • Add the gochujang butter, lime zest, chopped dill & egg into the mashed potato. Gently break the fish up into chunks then add into the potato as well.
    The chunks of fish should be left fairly large.
  • Season the potato mix with salt & pepper then gently mix by hand to combine. Don't be too rough, as you don't want to break the fish up too much.
  • Divide the fish cake mix into 6 portions, each weighing around 200 grams then use your hands to form the mix into patties that are roughly 8cm wide & 3 cm thick. Place onto a lined baking tray then chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
    Chilling the fishcakes firms them up slightly, making it easier to breadcrumb them.

Bread Crumbing

  • Once the fish cakes have been chilled, prepare the bread crumbing station. To do this, take 3 bowls, fill one with the flour, another with the eggs & milk and the last with the breadcrumbs & sesame seeds. Beat the eggs with a fork then season each bowl with salt & pepper & mix to combine.
  • Next, place a fish cake into the flour then roll to coat. Shake off any excess flour then dip the fish cake into the eggs so that it gets completely coated. Let any excess egg drip off then roll the fish cake in the bread crumbs, to evenly coat.
  • Place the bread crumbed fish cake onto a lined baking tray then repeat the bread crumbing process with the remaining fish cakes. Once they're all done, chill the fish cakes in the fridge until needed or cook them straight away.

Gochujang Mayo

  • Place all of the mayo ingredients into a bowl, season with salt & pepper then stir to combine. Chill in the fridge until needed.
    Feel free to add in more gochujang if you'd prefer a spicier flavour.

Deep Frying

  • Preheat a deep fat fryer to 180°c/356°f. Preheat an oven to the same temperature as well.
    I'd recommend using a digital food probe to double check the temperature of the oil, as domestic fryers tend to be a bit inaccurate!
  • Once the oil is up to temperature, fry the fish cakes for 5-6 minutes until the bread crumbs are crisp & a deep golden brown.
    You'll probably need to fry the fish cakes in batches. It's important not to over crowd the fryer. Make sure to let the oil heat back up between batches.
  • Once fried, let the fish cakes drain for a minute or so, to remove excess oil then transfer to a baking tray & bake in the preheated oven for a further 6-8 minutes until the inside is piping hot.
    If you take the internal temperature with a food probe, the fish cakes should be at least 75°c/167°f in the centre.
  • Once cooked, season the fish cakes with sea salt then serve with the gochujang mayo.

Pan Frying

  • If you haven't got a deep fat fryer, the fish cakes can also be pan fried. To do this, first set a large frying pan over a medium-high heat then add in a 1cm layer of vegetable oil & leave to heat up for 2 minutes.
  • Next, carefully add fish cakes into the hot oil then fry for 1-2 minutes on each side, until crisp & golden brown then transfer to a baking tray lined with kitchen paper & leave to drain momentarily.
    You'll need to fry the fish cakes in batches. I like to fry the edges as well, so the fish cakes are crispy all over!
  • Once all of your fish cakes have been fried, discard the kitchen paper then bake the fish cakes for 6-8 minutes until the inside is piping hot.
    If you take the internal temperature with a food probe, the fish cakes should be at least 75°c/167°f in the centre.
  • Once cooked, season the fish cakes with sea salt then serve with the gochujang mayo.

Notes

1. To Cook On An Aga - Bake the potatoes in the roasting oven, on the bottom set of runners & cook the fish on the boiling plate. Fry the fish cakes on the boiling plate then cook in the baking oven, on the second from bottom set of runners.
2. Fish - I used a mix of haddock & cod for my fish cakes but feel free to use just one type of fish if you'd prefer. Pollock & hake will also work.
3. Potatoes - I'd recommend using Maris Piper potatoes for this recipe but other floury potatoes like Russets & King Edwards will work as well. We need 750 grams of mash for our fish cakes, so you'll need to cook around 1.4kg of whole potatoes.
4. Gochujang - AJR gochujang is my go to brand but others will work as well. Gochujang packs quite a bit of spice so you really don't need a lot! If you'd prefer a spicier flavour feel free to add more into the fish cake mix. The amount that I used gives the fish cakes a mildly spicy flavour.
5. Storage - Fish cakes need to be stored in the fridge & are best served within 2 days of being made. They're best served fresh so I wouldn't recommend reheating them!