- 6 minutes ago
In this video, Chef John shows you how to make forgotten 1950’s salmon patties, a callback to a classic Depression Era recipe with a crispy crust and homemade remoulade sauce. These patties combine canned wild sockeye salmon, Ritz crackers, and chopped capers and green onions into even portions ready to cook on the stovetop. Once they're crunchy and golden-brown, pair them with a side of asparagus and a dollop of that homemade remoulade sauce, and dig into this blast from the past!
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Forgotten 1950s Salmon Patties.
00:09That's right, this fast, affordable, and very delicious meal started in the 30s and reached its peak popularity in the
00:1650s.
00:17But then, for whatever reason, it was kind of forgotten.
00:20But I remembered it, and I'm very excited to share a recipe I hope you never forget.
00:26And to get started, we're going to crush up some crackers to make crumbs.
00:30And while back in the day they would have used saltines, I like doing this with Ritz crackers,
00:35which are more buttery and rich and have a nice little touch of sweetness.
00:38And we do want to crush these up pretty fine, but we don't want a powder.
00:43So we should probably stop right about here.
00:45And once those are set, we'll move on to the star of the show, a couple cans of salmon.
00:50And this was a wild sockeye salmon from Wild Planet, which I do think is the best brand.
00:56But whatever you pick, the ingredients should just say salmon and salt.
01:00And what we'll do as soon as that's in the bowl is quickly cover it with our crumbs, a little
01:05bit of mayonnaise, and one whole egg.
01:07And that's because even the most beautiful canned salmon is nothing we want to stare at for too long.
01:12And what we'll do is take a fork and mix and mash this up until everything's evenly combined.
01:17And that salmon's broken up into nice small bits.
01:20And by the way, if you think you see something that looks like a bone, or any other kind of
01:24fish part,
01:25do not under any circumstances try to pick it out.
01:28All right, because of how this is processed, everything in the can is going to be just as soft and
01:33edible as the meat.
01:34And that's one reason canned salmon is so extra nutritious.
01:37But anyway, once mixed, we'll go ahead and add some chopped capers, as well as some minced up green onion.
01:43And both those things are optional, but the following seasonings probably are not.
01:47Which includes a little bit of salt, some freshly ground black pepper, and of course a few shakes of cayenne.
01:55And I guess we could have added that stuff earlier.
01:57But sometimes if you mix and mash raw onions in something like this,
02:00you can kind of bruise them, and they'll get more of a harsh flavor.
02:04Which is why I'm using this extra careful two-step method.
02:07And then what we'll do next for the fancy version,
02:10is take a spoon and press this mixture down, nice and evenly,
02:14until we have a nice flat, uniform surface.
02:16And that's going to make it nice and easy to divide this into four equal portions,
02:20which we will then shape into some nice beautiful patties,
02:23with some damp hands.
02:24All right, for the faster, non-fancy version,
02:27just simply take a spoon and transfer four lumps of this mixture into a frying pan.
02:32And then you can just press it down with a spatula, kind of Smashburger style.
02:36Which totally works if you're okay with your regular edges.
02:39But like I said, we're doing a fancy version.
02:42So we'll dampen our hands with a little bit of water,
02:44and we'll shape those into some nice thick patties.
02:47And once formed, we will place those down on a plate,
02:49that we've dusted with some extra cracker crumbs,
02:52which is also optional, but you do get a crispier crust this way.
02:56And once all four portions are shaped,
02:58we will also dust the top with a few crumbs,
03:00and go ahead and press those in.
03:02At which point, if we're in a hurry,
03:04we can go ahead and start pan frying these.
03:06But what I prefer to do is let them rest for three or four minutes,
03:10while we mix up our sauce.
03:12And I'm going to do sort of a quick, easy remoulade for these.
03:15Which starts with some mayonnaise,
03:17to which we will add some sour cream,
03:19as well as a spoon of Dijon mustard,
03:22followed by a generous amount of pickle relish.
03:24And I would say a sweet relish probably pairs better with these salmon patties.
03:28But I had dill relish, so that's what I used.
03:31And it really does work great also.
03:33And then we'll continue on with some freshly ground black pepper,
03:36a nice big spoon of paprika,
03:39plus a spoon of sugar, if you used a dill pickle relish.
03:42Or you can skip that if you used the sweet one.
03:45And then since I had them, I finished with some fresh herb,
03:47which was a little bit of freshly chopped parsley and tarragon.
03:51And that's it.
03:52We'll give our sauce a mix,
03:53and pop it in the fridge until we need it.
03:55Oh, and in case it matters,
03:57both this sauce and the salmon patties,
03:59can be made well in advance.
04:01Okay, even the day before, if you want.
04:03But we're hungry,
04:04so what we'll do once our sauce is done,
04:06is melt a generous amount of butter in a pan,
04:08set over medium heat.
04:10And we will transfer our salmon patties in.
04:13And then we'll cook those for about three minutes per side,
04:15or until beautifully browned and crispy.
04:19And then something I like to do when I'm frying a salmon patty,
04:22or even something like a crab cake,
04:24is about halfway through that first side cooking time,
04:26I like to give them a little half turn,
04:28so that maybe they cook a little more evenly.
04:31Although I will admit,
04:32there's a pretty good chance I just did that for nothing.
04:35But anyway, we'll give that first side about three minutes,
04:37and then flip them over,
04:39and give the other side about the same.
04:41And of course, the exact cooking time always depends on how thick you make these.
04:45But keep in mind, everything in here is cooked,
04:47except for the egg.
04:48So once these are heated through, you're done.
04:51And then one last optional trick I do with these.
04:53Once that second side's done,
04:55I flip them back over,
04:57to further crisp up that first side.
05:00And I know, they say you're not supposed to flip things like this more than once.
05:03But you know what?
05:04They say a lot of things.
05:06And as long as the coating doesn't get too dark,
05:08I do think it makes them a little bit crispier.
05:11But either way, once those are done,
05:13we'll go ahead and serve up,
05:14which I'm going to do next to some chilled asparagus,
05:17which I think is a perfect pairing.
05:19And once those are plated,
05:20we'll finish up with a nice big spoon of our remoulade sauce over each patty.
05:25But do not cover the whole thing,
05:27especially if you're taking contractually obligated pictures,
05:30since these things are just too pretty to hide.
05:33And then I garnish these with a shake of cayenne,
05:36and then a little pinch of minced green onion,
05:38which is what I thought would look good,
05:40but use what you want.
05:42I mean, you are after all the duke or duchess
05:44of your finishing touches.
05:46And that's it.
05:47I grabbed a fork and dug in.
05:49And if everything goes according to plan,
05:51these should be moist and tender on the inside,
05:53and crispy and crunchy on the outside.
05:56In fact, let me try one of these little crispy bits
05:59before I take a proper bite.
06:01Oh yeah, we nailed the crispy on the outside part.
06:04So that was a good tease.
06:06But I want the complete package now.
06:08And that, my friends, really was amazing.
06:11And normally I'd be annoyed
06:12that some of that sauce fell on the asparagus,
06:15distracting people's eyes away from these gorgeous patties.
06:18But I wasn't, because it was the perfect reminder
06:20that that remoulade sauce we made,
06:22besides being great with these,
06:24is a perfect dip for any kind of seasonal veggies.
06:27And I was going to squeeze the lemon on the asparagus,
06:30but I think I'm actually just going to go
06:31with some more remoulade.
06:33But anyway, now I'm remembering the words
06:35of a chef I used to work for,
06:36who once told me,
06:38nobody cares about vegetables.
06:40So I'm going to go back to talking
06:42about these salmon patties.
06:44Okay, I'm a big fan of crab cakes,
06:46but crab is really expensive,
06:48if you can even find some good crab.
06:50So this is a great alternative.
06:52And it's close.
06:53But I might like these even better.
06:56Oh, and the reason I called these 1950s salmon patties,
06:59and not 1930s salmon patties,
07:02was because back during the Depression era,
07:04this was just a three-ingredient recipe,
07:07which was salmon crackers and an egg.
07:09If you were lucky.
07:10Sometimes just salmon and crackers.
07:12But in the 50s,
07:13things were a little better.
07:14And people didn't make these because they had to.
07:17They made them because they wanted to.
07:19And extra ingredients started to get added in.
07:21And people ate them listening to rock and roll.
07:24And not just that sad trombone sound.
07:27But anyway, that's it.
07:29My take on salmon patties.
07:31If you make these,
07:32you'll be as amazed as I am
07:33that these somehow were forgotten.
07:35Because I happen to think they're very memorable.
07:37And I really do hope you give them a try soon.
07:40So please follow the links below
07:43for the ingredient amounts,
07:44a printable written recipe,
07:46and much more info as usual.
07:48And as always,
07:51enjoy.
07:53Enjoy.
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