This is where a spring roll meets a fritter, somewhere in the realm of higher fibre. In other words, this is how you use leftovers to create a great fusion dish that everyone can eat and even add some nutrition to an otherwise empty calorie dish. This is a spin off from Jamaican Saltfish Fritters, or Stamp and Go. Traditionally, it is made with salted cod and lots of fresh spices. Since we are in a region in which salted cod is almost as expensive as Beluga caviar, I decided to find a more budget friendly alternative. Of course, there is very little that is less expensive than tuna here. If you find that salted cod (or pollack as a substitute) is cheaper than tuna fish where you are, by all means, use them, but soak them prefereably in lots of water from the night before. We prefer not to cook them twice as most people do because it makes the fish trashy. So how did we increase the nutrition on a spicy Jamaican style fritter? It all started with this…
Do you remember that two posts ago we did our first ‘Our Picks’ item that featured Microplane? Well, we made lots of shredded cabbage and carrots in the process, which all came out to the consistency of perfect spring roll filling. We decided to make a Chinese Style stir fry veggies and added grated ginger and julienned green bell/sweet/capsicum peppers. But we still had leftovers…
We hate throwing out food. There are too many starving children all over the world, plus for us, leftovers means that half the prep is already done and there is a huge likelihood that we will be creating a brand spanking new recipe! So we did! With…
Ingredients: 1/4 cup milled flaxseed (we grind our own from the whole ones and store in ziploc sandwich bags in the fridge as shown), 1 cup flour, 1 cup sauteed shredded veg (carrots, cabbage, ginger, julienned bell peppers, scallion/green onions, salt and pepper to taste), 1/3 cup canned tuna, 2tsp baking powder, salt and pepper, slices of scotch bonnet/habaneros peppers, thinly sliced scallion/green onions, 1 1/4 cup water. You may add 2 sprigs of fresh or frozen thyme if you have any. Oil for frying.
Method: Combine all ingredients except the oil in a mixing bowl. Note that the batter should be slightly salty to mimic the saltiness of saltfish fritters.
Heat your oil in a dry pan
Using two tablespoons ,spoon your batter in the hot oil. You will scoop the batter in one spoon and use the other spoon to scoop it out into the pan. This will help you to get equal sized fritters. Make certain the oil is not too hot or they will burn but if it too cold, the batter will soak up all the oil. Turn when the sides take colour like this… Repeat in as many batches needed to fry all the batter. Garnish with green onions and serve hot or cold. It is great for breakfast, as an appetizer or as a bar snack!
CHEF’S NOTE: You can make this dish into a vegetarian/vegan one by leaving out the tuna. It’s so good, it’s worth it!
These fritters look amazing! I love that they’re savory too. Yum!
We do a lot of savoury fritters! We love fritters in the Caribbean!
Awesome post! Your fritters are mouthwatering! Very yummy!
Have a great weekend!
xx,
Tammy
I am amazed at the timing of this recipe. Last night I looked in my cupboard to find something exciting to eat and saw cans of tuna bought on special. I closed the cuoboard door as I think tuna is bland. Then … bingo, you sent me this one, I am happy, will try and report.
Thanks much , Bunnyasher
Happy to hear this story! All things are connected!
YUM YUM. I am not a tuna fan but this i would definitely try.
Neither do I but this way you dont even realize it’s there.
wow ! lovely blog and well presented 🙂 will definitely try this !
you can stop by my blog at http://kitchensojourn.blogspot.com … will be really happy if you follow it 😀
We hope you do try it and get back to us Ayesha.
Congrats Lij and Kari….inspiring for an auntie whose preferred task around the house is not cooking….actually looks interesting enough for me to try….especially using tuna or salmon…..keep it up…lots of love.
Aunti Judith
Thank you! This is why we love comments… we never thought of salmon but great idea! Please let us know how it turns out!
I tried as promised and was not disappointed. The spicy tuna fritters were wonderful. Zara came by and cleaned the plate!
Love B
Lovely! You are the second person to try and tell us and we are happy that both times the feedback has been positive! These are our new “In a hurry” snacks/meal now and we feel confident enough about them to serve for parties. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment again. Now you have something else to do with all those cans of tuna!
hi
really nice recipe. but is it possible to replace the flaxseeds, because I never have them on stock?
marina
You may do it without them. We only added them for extra fibre.
Thank you!!! I´m gonna try it.
Really nice blog by the way.
Thanks Marina! Do come back and tell us how you like it!