Fish and prawn patties, crumbed and baked in a screaming hot oven, kind of like a fish finger. The prawn stays all chunky and bouncy in amongst the fish, with a real prawn toast vibe, and a tangy, warming burger sauce brings it home. No deep frying over the stove, no splattering everywhere.
Serves: 9 (makes 9 patties)
Prep time: 30 minutes, plus chilling
Cook time: 18 minutes
INGREDIENTS
For the patties
700g best quality frozen white fish fillets, thawed, drained and cut into chunks
500g prawn meat, chopped
3 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp panko crumbs
2 egg whites
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp dashi powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp white pepper
pinch of salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp chopped chives
olive oil (or spray oil), for drizzling - be generous
For the crumb
2 cups panko crumbs
2 tsp ground paprika (regular, not smoked)
For the burger sauce
2 tbsp sliced dill pickle (about 1 pickle)
1 tbsp capers
2 tbsp American mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp sriracha chilli sauce, or to taste
To serve
9 white burger rolls, toasted
lettuce
Cheese slices (optional)
METHOD
Pulse the fish in a food processor until it's not necessarily a paste, but a mince. Don't overwork it. Place in a bowl with the chopped prawn meat, cornflour and panko crumbs.
Whip the egg whites until frothy and foamy, then add to the bowl with the fish sauce, dashi powder, garlic powder, white pepper, salt, lemon zest and chives. Mix together. Make sure the mix is easy enough to handle and you think it's going to stay together - add a little more cornflour or panko if it's wet.
Combine the panko and paprika for the crumb. Form the mixture into patties of about 1/2 cup each and toss them in the crumb. Place on a tray and pop them in the fridge until you're ready to cook.
When you're ready to cook, heat a heavy-duty baking tray, unlined, in a 250C oven.
Drizzle the patties heavily on each side with olive oil. You do need to be generous here. Take the hot tray out of the oven, place the patties down and pop them back in for roughly 15 - 18 minutes, flipping once if you want gorgeous goldenness on both sides. They hold together really well, so don't be afraid of this step.
Meanwhile, for the burger sauce, blend the pickle, capers, mustard, mayonnaise, tomato sauce and sriracha until smooth. Adjust the sriracha depending on how spicy you want or don't want it.
Drizzle the toasted rolls with burger sauce, add lettuce, top with a fish patty and then more burger sauce on top. Some of the people in my house also opted for a slice of cheese. This is totally your call. It's totally Australian. Get amongst it.
HINTS
If you're using frozen fish, let it defrost and drain properly. Mine hadn't, so it was quite a wet mix and I ended up with 3 tbsp of cornflour plus a tablespoon of panko to bring it together.
Whipping the egg whites until frothy keeps the patties bound but bouncy and lovely instead of tough.
Next time I'd add some sesame seeds to the crumb to lean into the prawn toast vibe.
NUTRITION (per recipe total, including rolls and sauce - guide only):
Energy: approx. 4,950 kcal (20,700 kJ)
Protein: approx. 300g
Fat: approx. 205g
Carbohydrate: approx. 455g
Sodium: approx. 10,000mg
This nutrition information is a guide only and may vary depending on brands, exact quantities, and ingredient substitutions used.