How to Make Crispy Smoked Herring Fish Cakes

Gather the ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the mashed potatoes, parsley, spring onion and paprika. Using a fine grater (we like to use a Microplane grater for this), zest about 1/4 of the lemon (yellow skin only) and add the zest to the potato mixture. Break the eggs into a shallow soup bowl, whisk, and add 1 tablespoon of the eggs to the mash. Mix well. Set the rest of the eggs aside until later. Using your hands, carefully flake the herring, removing any skin or bones. Fold the flaked fish through the potato mixture. Cover a tray or large plate with plastic wrap. Form 8 evenly sized balls with the fish mixture and place on the tray, pressing gently down with the palm of your hand to form 8 fishcake patties. Cover patties with plastic wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes (or overnight, if making ahead of time). Assemble three soup bowls: one with the leftover beaten egg from earlier in the recipe, one with flour, and one with fresh breadcrumbs (we like panko crumbs). Dredge the herring fishcakes in the flour, making sure that they are evenly coated. Shake off any excess flour. Dunk the fishcakes briefly, one by one, in the soup bowl with the beaten egg mix, allowing any excess egg to drip off. Now transfer the fishcakes, one by one, to the dish with the bread crumbs. Toss each one in the bread crumbs until it is thoroughly coated. Add butter and olive oil (you'll need about 1 tablespoon butter and 3 tablespoon olive oil) to a large frying pan and heat until the butter turns foamy. Add half of the fishcakes and cook until the bread crumbs turn golden and crispy - they'll need about 3 minutes a side. Remove the fishcakes from the frying pan and allow to drain on kitchen paper. Repeat the process with the other 4 fishcakes. Serve with baked thick-cut oven fries, salad, lemon wedges, and our fresh tarragon & garlic mayonnaise. Enjoy!