Make up the dried mash as per the packet instructions, or peel the fresh potatoes and boil in slightly salted water until tender. Pass through a ricer if you have one, or mash well with a hand masher or fork. Don’t add any milk or the finished fish cake won’t fry very well. Season your mash with salt and pepper, be generous. I thought a bit of butter would add more flavour, but it didn’t, so have left it out here.
Open the tin of salmon and drain well. Mash the salmon, skin, bones and all, you won’t notice it in the cooked fish cake.
Mix the salmon into the mash.
Chop the onion finely and give it a little sizzle in a pan with some of the oil before adding it to the fish cake mix. The onion wouldn’t really cook very well in the finished fish cake if added raw, so we need to cook it first.
Fashion the mixture into 4, patting and shaping into rounds. Place some flour on a plate and carefully dust each fish cake with the flour. Put the fish cakes in the fridge for an hour or so to firm up if you can. click here to start a 2 hour timer
When ready to cook, heat half the oil in a heavy based pan and fry gently until golden on the bottom. Carefully turn over, they are quite fragile, and fry the other side.