Barley Free Ginger-Turmeric Snapper Cakes with Carrot

Total time51 min

Prep time20 min

Cook time16 min

4.8

(10)

Barley Free Ginger-Turmeric Snapper Cakes with Carrot

These golden fish cakes are packed with bold, warming flavor — fresh red snapper hand-chopped for real texture, bright ginger, earthy turmeric, and sweet carrot all pressed into crispy little rounds that cook up beautifully in coconut oil. The binder here is rice flour rather than any grain-based filler, which means the whole recipe sidesteps barley and other problematic grains entirely without any awkward substitutions or specialty products. Squeezing the moisture out of the grated carrot is a small but crucial step that keeps the cakes firm and helps them develop that deep golden crust you're after. The cool ricotta dipping sauce — stirred together with parsley and a splash of apple cider vinegar — cuts right through the richness and takes maybe two minutes to make. Chilling the mixture before shaping is worth every one of those 15 minutes; it makes the cakes easier to handle and helps them hold together in the pan. This is the kind of weeknight dinner that looks genuinely impressive on a platter but asks very little of you in return.

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Ingredients

4 servings

For the cakes

1 lb fresh red snapper fillets, skin removed, pin bones removed
1 cup finely grated carrot (about 2 medium carrots)
2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 large egg
3 tbsp rice flour
¾ tsp fine sea salt
2 tbsp coconut oil, for frying

For the dipping sauce

½ cup fresh ricotta
2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
¼ tsp fine sea salt

For serving

2 tbsp fresh parsley sprigs (optional)

Instructions

1
Make the dipping sauce: stir together the ricotta, parsley, apple cider vinegar, and 1/4 tsp salt in a small bowl until smooth. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the cakes.
2
Pat the snapper fillets completely dry with paper towels, then finely chop them by hand into pieces no larger than 1/4 inch — do not use a food processor, as the fish should have some texture, not become a paste. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

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