Hederman’s Hot Smoked Irish Salmon with Chilli Fritters with Sweet Chilli Dip
Colm O'Gorman
Serves 40 fritters
| Portuguese
| Tapas or Main Course with a salad
Prep Time: 40 mins
| Cooking Time: 20 mins
| Total Time: 60 mins
We were in Portugal Lisbon a few years ago and I fell in love with their seafood. In Lisbon I ate Portuguese Cod Fritters for the first time and was hooked. I kept meaning to have a go at recreating them at home and then one evening we just fancied something quick and easy for supper. This time I had some of Hederman’s gorgeous Hot Smoked Irish Salmon to hand…
I was delighted I did; these really are delicious. A lovely starter, or a perfect supper if served with a leafy salad. They are also quite simple to make. I had them with a simple dip made from non–fat Greek yoghurt and sweet chilli sauce, but they would be great with a garlic and chilli aioli if you want to jazz them up a little more.
Ingredients
1kg rooster potatoes
300g Hederman’s Hot Smoked Irish Salmon with Chilli
25g fresh flat leaf parsley
3 eggs
1 small onion Salt & ground black pepper to taste
Sunflower oil for frying
Methodology
Bake the potatoes, you can do this in a microwave of you wish. Do not use boiled potatoes as they will have a lot more moisture than baked and you are deep frying these fritters. The fluffier your potato the better as it binds together much better and will hold together when you fry the fritters.Once baked, scoop out the flesh of the potatoes into a large bowl and weigh it. You should have somewhere around 600–650g of cooked potato. You want to use about a 2:1 ratio of potato to hot smoked salmon for this recipe.
Finely chop the onion and the parsley. Flake the smoked salmon, I like to keep it in small chunks, and add that to the bowl. Add a teaspoon of flaky sea salt and a good ground of black pepper. Lightly whisk the eggs, put that in and combine everything well.
Heat a litre of sunflower oil to 180c in a saucepan. The temperature is important: if it is cooler your fritters will likely either fall apart as they cook or be soggy and oily rather than crisp and golden.
Use two tablespoons to mould small portions of the mixture into an oval shape, a quenelle shape. As you mould each one, carefully drop it into the oil. I keep going until I have five or six frying. Then use a slatted spoon to check and see when each fritter is cooked.
The first ones you popped on will be ready just a minute or so after you get the last one in. Take them out when they crisp and golden. Drain them on a rack or some kitchen towel as you move to to the next batch.
Check the temperature of the oil before you add the next batch though, as it may well have reduced a but while cooking the previous one. Bring it back up to 180c before popping in the next lot.
Make up your dip of choice. I had them with a dip made from non–fat Greek yoghurt with some sweet chilli sauce whisked in. I prefer this to an oil–based dip as the fritters are deep fried and this helps make the dish a little lighter.
It is also very simple to put together of course.
An aioli made with garlic, lemon juice and some chilli would also be delicious if you want to make this a little more complex.