Hong Kong Salmon Cakes with Baby Bok Choy for Tyler Florence Fridays

I was looking for something on the lighter side for my TFF selection this week, but still with a big punch of flavor so I chose Tyler's Hong Kong Salmon Cakes with Baby Bok Choy. I think of all the TFF recipes I have posted (can you believe this is #41?!), my favorites always seem to be the Asian inspired ones as Tyler does a great job combining the ingredients and flavors. This recipe looked like it would be delicious and it's always good to get some salmon and its boost of healthy Omega-3s into your diet!

The recipe can be found at the Food Network site here. 

Hong Kong Salmon Cakes with Baby Bok Choy

Food 911, Tyler Florence

(Makes 2-4 servings)

Salmon Cakes:

1/4 cup peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 to 2 red or green chiles, minced
1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless salmon fillets, cut in small cubes
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (4 slices white bread with crusts removed pulsed in the food processor)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 lemon, juiced
1 large egg white
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bok Choy:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2-inch piece fresh ginger
2 heads baby bok choy, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Toasted sesame seeds, chopped cilantro leaves, and sliced green onion, for garnish

To make the salmon cakes: Heat 2 tablespoons of the peanut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallot, ginger, and chiles; saute for a few minutes to release the flavor. Remove from heat to cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl, combine the salmon, bread crumbs, cilantro, mayonnaise, lemon juice and egg white. Scrape the garlic/ginger oil into the salmon mixture; season with salt and pepper. Fold the ingredients together gently but thoroughly, taking care not to mash the salmon too much. Using your hands, form the mixture into 4 salmon cakes, they should be moist and just hold together.

Coat a non-stick skillet with the 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and bring it to a slight smoke over medium heat. Fry the salmon cakes until brown, about 4 minutes on each side, turning carefully with a spatula. Keep warm on a plate lined with paper towels.

To make the bok choy: Return the skillet to the heat and coat with the 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and heat until almost smoking. Split the piece of ginger open with a knife then whack it with the flat side of the knife. Lay the ginger pieces in the oil, cut-side down to let it start to perfume. Pan-fry the bok choy, cut-side down, for a couple of minutes to give it some color. Add the water and cook another minute to steam the bok choy; carefully remove it to a plate. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, lemon juice, and brown sugar. Cook and stir for 3 minutes until the sauce is the consistency of syrup.

Serve the salmon cakes with the bok choy, and drizzle the brown sauce over the whole thing. Garnish the dish with the toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, and green onion.

Notes/Results: Tyler does it again! The salmon cakes are a great combination of flavors with the ginger, garlic, shallot, green chili and cilantro. The syrupy sauce, drizzled over the baby bok choy and salmon cakes is delicious. I used a beautiful piece of wild sockeye salmon and the cakes turned out really moist. I am used to breaking up cooked fillets for my salmon cakes and I loved the difference in texture that came from starting with the little cubes of raw salmon. A couple of small changes--I used an oat & wheat hamburger bun instead of white bread for the breadcrumbs; it is what I had on hand, gets me a bit more fiber and the hamburger buns are soft so they work well texturally. Then, as is my usual habit, I cut down the amount of peanut oil used to cook everything by a bit more than half. Definitely use the low sodium soy-sauce as Tyler calls for as this recipe is pretty sodium laden. It is very tasty and makes a good, not too heavy meal with the bok choy and some rice. 

If you happened to notice the round of rice underneath the salmon patty and wonder about the color, it is Lotus Foods Bhutanese Red Rice. I like the rich, red color and the nutty flavor it has. In keeping with the ginger theme that permeates this recipe, I prepared the rice by sauteing some fresh minced ginger and garlic in a just a little bit of peanut oil, then added the rice and stirred it to coat it with the oil and spices for a few minutes before adding in the water and cooking it for about 20 minutes. Yum! This is a keeper recipe, and my leftover salmon cake will become a delicious sandwich tomorrow. 

Go visit the Tyler Florence Fridays site here to see what recipes the rest of our group selected and what they thought of them.

Don't Forget The Giveaway!

You have until this Sunday to enter my giveaway of a great "Sweet Treats" prize package from the new Betty Crocker Gluten Free Dessert Mixes. You get 4 full-size mixes to try, 2 coupons for free mixes and other goodies. Get all the details for entering here.