Perkedel with fish
Mackerel is a tasty and fatty fish. It is lovely in many ways: smoked, or in a fish fritter. This Perkedel with Fish recipe (in Dutch it is called ‘Frikadel’) strongly resembles my mothers Dutch fish cakes. My mom adds parsley to it. But that is too classy for this simple Perkedel by Beb Vuyk. There are no special herbs to go with this dish, only the basics: salt and pepper.
This mackerel dish has lots of flavor on its own. It doesn’t need more herbs to bring out the flavor. Because of the egg and bread crumbs your perkedel will be crispy and tender at the same time.
It seems to be a quick dish, but do not underestimate cleaning the fish. It takes some time to get rid of all the fish bones.
This recipe is enough for 4 people and takes about an hour to make.
Fresh mackerel
Perkedel with Fish #233 translated from Beb Vuyk’s Groot Indonesisch Kookboek, page 211.
Ingredients
- 1 large mackerel
- 2 large boiled potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon butter
- breadcrumbs
herbs
- 3 tablespoons chopped onions
- 1 chopped clove of garlic
- pepper
- salt
- lemon juice
- Boil the fish in water and salt, remove the skin and bones.
- Chop the fish meat.
- Mash the potatoes.
- Mix the minced fish meat with the potatoes, onions, garlic, salt and pepper, egg and a few drops of lemon juice.
- Scoop the mixture into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with breadcrumbs, arrange a few chunks of butter over the dish and bake in the oven until done.
Bring the mackerel to a slow simmer
Do not overcook
Do not overcook your mackerel. I place my 4 little fish in hot water and let the water come to a slow simmer. After a few minutes I turn off the gas, I wait for a few extra minutes and take my fishes out. One large mackerel has to cook for a longer time.
Minced mackerel fish meat
I haven’t chopped the meat, because after deboning the fish the meat was fine enough. Now I mix in the onions, garlic, pepper, salt and a few drops of lemon.
Frikadel with fish, classic Indonesian dish by Beb Vuyk
180 degrees Celsius
In the recipe, no cooking times are mentioned. I pop my frikadel in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes. I got a kilo of mackerel. I make a 5-centimeter layer in my baking dish with the mackerel, onion and garlic mixture.
Make sure your mixture is not too dry. You can add a few tablespoons of the cooking water to the mixture. This will keep your frikadel crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Eat this lovely, delicious, crunchy fish meat with white rice and a creamy sayur.
More fish recipes? Check out this link.
