Fish Croquettes
Take the remnants of cold boiled or baked fish. Remove every bone and break into fine bits. To 1 cup of fish allow 1/2 cup of rich white sauce. Heat the sauce, remove from the fire, and add 1 beaten egg. Add the fish, and with a fork mix and beat thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce, adding, if liked, two or three drops of onion juice. Add 1/2-cup of bread crumbs that have been slightly browned in butter. Mix thoroughly; if too stiff, add a little more sauce or sweet cream. When cool form into balls, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep, hot fat until they are a nice brown. Boil the bones, head, and tail of the fish with a small onion in sufficient water to make a sauce. Strain off the liquor and season with anchovy and tomato. Serve very hot with the sauce poured around the croquettes.
A straightforward use for leftover cooked fish, held together by a thick white sauce rather than potato. The mixture must be genuinely cold and stiff before shaping or the croquettes will burst in the fat.
- Chill before shaping"When cool" understates it. Spread the mixture in a shallow dish and refrigerate at least two hours, or until it is firm enough to hold a shape without sagging; a warm, loose mixture is the usual cause of croquettes that split open and absorb fat.
- Rich white sauceThe period term generally indicates a thick, well-buttered white sauce, made with something like 2 to 3 tablespoons butter and the same of flour to 1 cup milk or part cream; "rich" may also imply cream rather than mere thickness. At half a cup of sauce to a cup of fish the binding is deliberately heavy, which is what makes the mixture mouldable.
- Frying temperature"Deep, hot fat" gives no figure; in modern terms about 375F answers. Below that the crumb coating soaks; much above it and the outside colours before the centre has heated through. Two to three minutes gives a nice brown.
- Onion juiceGrate a peeled onion on a fine grater and use the liquid that collects. Two or three drops is not an exaggeration; it is meant to be a background note, not a flavour.
- The fish stockBones, head and tail with an onion need only 20 to 30 minutes in barely enough water to cover. Longer simmering turns fish stock bitter and glue-like rather than stronger.
- Anchovy and tomatoAnchovy sauce and tomato ketchup or puree were both bottled staples of the period. A teaspoon of anchovy paste and a tablespoon of tomato puree per cup of strained stock will approximate the intent; the sauce is thin and poured around, not over.
- Egg washThe egg for dipping should be beaten with a tablespoon of water or milk so it coats thinly. Crumb, rest the shaped croquettes ten minutes, then fry, so the coating sets.
- YieldTwo cups of fish makes roughly eight to ten croquettes, enough for four as a light main course.
- Fish choiceCooked cod, haddock, halibut or salmon all work. Very oily fish such as mackerel makes a heavy croquette, and any fish that was overcooked the first time will be dry here.