[Sca-cooks] plea for help-- Soup for the Qan

[Susan Browning]

Hmm - my first take is that the sheep's tail is the main binding ingredient,
much like ground meat in meatballs.   Butter would not work as a substitute,
as it would effectively evaporate on hitting the oil.  Maybe try
substituting a different type of ground meat, such as lamb or mutton, with
some extra fat added?

Eleanor

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Maggie MacDonald" <maggie5 at cox.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 8:28 AM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] plea for help-- Soup for the Qan


> The Calafian Cooks Guild is working on a feast for Coronation in November,
> way too soon!!!
>
> One of the recipes we've been fiddling with is from Soup for the Qan, page
> 306, #59 [43B] Fish Cakes
>
> It calls for large carp (skined, boned), sheeps tail (minced), fresh
> ginger, onions, pepper, mandarin orange peel, black pepper, and kasni
> (asafoetida).
>
> We used pollock instead of carp, butter instead of sheeps tail (all the
> sheep/lamb stuff locally has just about NO fat on it at all) and regular
> orange instead of mandarin orange (and we were out of asafoetida at the
time).
>
>
> The directions say: [To the] ingredients [other than the carp] add salt.
> Add to the fish and work meat. Roll into cakes like crossbow bullets. Fry
> in vegetable oil.
>
> Ok, that all seems pretty simple, mostly.
>
> I grated the ginger and the orange peel, put it in a food processor, then
> added coarsely chopped onions and processed. I then cubed the fish in half
> inch cubes, and processed, adding the salt/pepper as it went.
>
> We then formed into little cakes about the width of my thumb, and half my
> thumb in length, and fried in olive oil.
>
> These things were HORRID, they fell apart the second they hit the pan.
> (first try)
>
> I chilled then rolled them, and they fell apart again. (second try)
>
> I then added a little cracker meal, and they held together better, but not
> well. (third try)
>
> THEN i let them set with the cracker meal under refrigeration for a couple
> days, to let the flavors marry, and fried in deep oil. What a disaster,
> they dissolved into crumb size pieces the second they hit the oil.
>
> Does asafoetida have binding properties to it? (Like cracker meal, or
eggs,
> or something)
>
> Has anybody tried this recipe before? What am i overlooking!!!  This
recipe
> tastes marvellous, not fishy icky at all, and I feel that people would
> quite cheerfully eat it, provided I can get it to their plates in one
piece!!
>
> Regards, and desperately,
>
> Maggie MacD.