Pork Free Ginger-Turmeric Snapper Cakes with Carrot
These golden fish cakes are packed with bold, warming flavor — fresh red snapper gets hand-chopped for real texture, then folded together with bright ginger, earthy turmeric, sweet carrot, and fragrant cilantro before being pan-fried in coconut oil until deeply golden on both sides. Every ingredient here is naturally free of pork and pork-derived products, so there's no label-scanning or substitution stress involved — just clean, straightforward cooking from start to finish. The rice flour keeps things light and gluten-friendly while helping the cakes hold their shape beautifully in the pan. A creamy ricotta dipping sauce with parsley and a splash of apple cider vinegar comes together in minutes and cuts right through the richness of the fried cakes. Squeezing the moisture out of the grated carrot and chilling the mixture before shaping are the two small steps that make a big difference — you get cakes that stay compact and develop that satisfying crust instead of falling apart. This is the kind of recipe that feels impressive enough for guests but is genuinely easy to pull off on a weeknight.
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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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