SHRIMP & SCALLOP CAKES - RECIPE - FINECOOKING

Shrimp & Scallop Cakes - Recipe - FineCooking image

The trick to making great fish cakes is to buy fresh ingredients, handle them gently, season with restraint, and pan-fry until you've got a crisp, brown crust and a succulent center.

Provided by @MakeItYours

Number Of Ingredients 9

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Ingredients

2 whole star anise
4 Tbs. peanut or canola oil; more as needed for frying
2 cups stemmed and sliced (1/4-inch-thick) shiitake mushrooms (from about two 3-1/2-oz. packages)
1/2 lb. shrimp, any size, peeled and deveined
3/4 lb. fresh dry-packed sea scallops
2 Tbs. mirin (sweetened rice wine)
2 Tbs. roughly chopped fresh cilantro, plus 8 cilantro leaves
2 Tbs. thinly sliced scallions (both white and green parts; about 2 scallions)
Gingered Soy Sauce

Steps:

Grind the star anise in a clean electric coffee grinder.
Heat 2 Tbs. of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shiitakes and sauté, stirring as needed, until cooked through, golden, and slightly crisp around the edges, 5 to 7 min. Transfer to a cutting board, let cool, and then coarsely chop.
Coarsely chop the shrimp and transfer to a large bowl. Put the scallops in a food processor and purée until smooth. Add the scallops to the bowl of shrimp. Add 1 tsp. of the star anise, along with the shiitakes, mirin, cilantro, scallions, sesame oil, and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt. Combine well using a rubber spatula-don't worry about overmixing. Cover the bowl and chill for 30 min. or more. Discard any remaining ground star anise or save for another use.
Turn the mixture out onto a baking sheet and portion it into eight equal mounds. With wet hands, shape each mound into a flattened cake about 2-1/2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Press a cilantro leaf, nice side up, onto the top of each cake.
Heat the oven to 200°F. Heat 1 Tbs. of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Using a rubber spatula, transfer four of the cakes to the pan with the cilantro-leaf side down. Cook until lightly browned on both sides and cooked through, turning once or twice with a spatula, 5 to 6 min. total cooking time. Transfer to a plate, cover, and keep warm in the oven. Wipe the skillet clean and then cook the remaining cakes as above, using the remaining 1 Tbs. oil.
Serve hot, with ramekins of the Gingered Soy Sauce for dipping.