Salmon and Corn Cakes with Dried Mango Tartar
Canned salmon fried into cakes in a camp skillet, with a mango and caper sauce mixed in the lid.
- calories
- 530
- weight
- 6.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 82
- protein
- 27 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- 150 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Lunch
- Canister stove
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Canned pink salmon | one 14.5 oz can | boneless, drained; pour the liquid off downwind |
|---|---|---|
| Panko breadcrumbs | 1 cup | |
| Powdered whole egg | 3 tbsp | stands in for 2 fresh eggs |
| Freeze-dried corn | 1/2 cup | |
| Dried minced onion | 2 tbsp | replaces the fresh red onion |
| Dried parsley | 1 tbsp | |
| Cayenne pepper | 1/2 tsp | scale to who is eating |
| Salt and black pepper | 1/4 tsp salt, pepper to taste | |
| Vegetable oil | 1/3 cup | for frying, in a leakproof bottle |
| Dried mango | 1/2 cup | diced small before you leave home |
| Mayonnaise packets | 1/2 cup | about 8 single-serve packets, shelf-stable unopened |
| Capers | 2 tbsp | drained from a jar or a pouch, chopped |
Method
- Make the sauce first. Put the diced mango in a cup with 3 tbsp cold water and let it sit 10 minutes until it softens.
- Squeeze in the mayonnaise, add the chopped capers, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Stir and set it aside in the shade.
- Rehydrate the corn and onion in about 1/3 cup cold water for 10 minutes, then drain off anything that did not soak in.
- In the pot, whisk the egg powder with 5 tbsp cold water until it is smooth with no dry lumps.
- Break the drained salmon up with a fork. Add the egg, panko, corn, onion, parsley, cayenne, salt and pepper. Mix until it holds together when squeezed. If it slumps, more panko.
- Form eight patties, about half an inch thick. Press them firm.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over a medium flame. Fry four at a time, three or four minutes a side, until the crust is set and brown. Turn once, not twice.
- Drain on a spare bandana or a tortilla and spoon the mango sauce over the top.
Salmon cakes are a good camp dinner because the expensive part is already cooked and sitting in a can. What normally makes them a kitchen recipe is the fresh egg, onion, parsley and mango, and every one of those has a dry version that rehydrates in the time it takes the stove to warm up. The egg powder matters most: it is the binder, and without something holding the salmon to the panko you get hash instead of cakes.
Work the oil hard. A dry pan makes the crust stick and tear, and the crust is the reason to fry these instead of eating salmon out of the can. The mango sauce reads like a garnish but it is doing real work against the cayenne and the salt, so mix it before the pan is hot and let it sit while the cakes cook.
Packing
Panko, egg powder, corn, onion, parsley, cayenne, salt and pepper all go in one bag at home; that bag is the whole dry side of the recipe. Mango and capers ride together. Mayo packets stay sealed until you open them, so count them rather than decanting into a jar.
Variations
- No mango on hand: dried apricot chopped fine does the same job with less sweetness.
- Skip the frying and press the mix into a foil packet on coals for 15 minutes. Less crust, no oil to carry.
- Canned tuna or chicken works the same way if salmon is not in the pantry.
https://www.tasteandtellblog.com/cookbook-of-the-month-recipe-spicy-salmon-and-corn-cakes-with-mango-tartar-sauce