Legume Free Ginger-Turmeric Snapper Cakes with Carrot
These golden pan-fried fish cakes are bright, aromatic, and genuinely exciting — the kind of dish that feels restaurant-worthy but comes together in a home kitchen without much fuss. Fresh red snapper gets hand-chopped for real texture, then folded with sweet grated carrot, punchy ginger, and earthy turmeric before being seared in coconut oil until deeply golden on both sides. Rice flour does the binding work here, keeping everything together without a single legume-derived ingredient in sight — no chickpea flour, no lentil starch, no hidden bean-based fillers that can sneak into store-bought fish cakes. The cool ricotta dipping sauce with parsley and apple cider vinegar is a smart counterpoint to all that warm spice, cutting through the richness in the best possible way. Squeezing the moisture out of the carrot and chilling the mixture before shaping are small steps that make a real difference in getting that satisfying crisp crust. Serve them straight off the pan while the edges are still crackling and you'll understand why this one is worth keeping in regular rotation.
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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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