Emulsifier Free Ginger-Turmeric Snapper Cakes with Carrot
These golden fish cakes are bright, aromatic, and genuinely exciting — fresh red snapper hand-chopped for real texture, then packed with grated carrot, warm turmeric, and a generous hit of ginger before hitting a hot coconut oil pan. Every ingredient here is whole and recognizable, which is exactly the point when you're trying to avoid the hidden additives and binding agents that sneak into so many processed or restaurant-style fish cakes. The rice flour does the light lifting as a binder alongside a single egg, keeping things together without any of the emulsifier-laden shortcuts you'd find in store-bought versions. Squeezing the moisture out of the carrot and hand-chopping the fish rather than blitzing it in a food processor are the two small moves that make a big difference — you get cakes that hold their shape and have genuine bite. The cooling ricotta dipping sauce, brightened with apple cider vinegar and fresh parsley, is stirred together in minutes and needs nothing more than what's listed. It's a clean, confident plate that happens to sidestep a whole category of additives without sacrificing any of the flavor.
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Learn more →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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