My husband is a bit of a food fussy about fish, but he enjoys fish cakes.  I had some tuna steaks, so I thought I would make fish cakes with them.  In the past, I had used canned tuna, so using raw tuna steaks for fish cakes was a first for me. They turned out really well, so I thought I would share the recipe, which I created, using several I came across online.  I served them with salad and roasted asparagus. I had one left over and heated it up for lunch and had it with salad.  Was just as good heated up!

Tuna Fish Cakes

About 12 ounces fresh tuna (was 2 tuna steaks for me)

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (I use gluten free; reserve some if you want to coat the patties in it for extra crunch)

1/3-1/2 cup cooked rice or potatoes, peeled, cooked, mashed and cooled (I had some coconut rice left over from the previous night’s dinner, so I used rice.  Potatoes are more commonly used in fish cakes).

1-2 cloves of garlic

1/3 cup diced red onion or shallot

1/3 cup diced sweet red pepper

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper (to taste)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro (you can use parsley if you don’t like cilantro)

1 small or 1/2 of large jalapeño, seeded and chopped finely (optional)

1 egg, beaten with fork

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 300.  Cook potatoes or rice and let cool. Chop onion, garlic, red pepper, jalapeño and cilantro/parsley by hand or use food processor or mini-chopper.  Put chopped mixture in large bowl.  Cut tuna in large chunks and pulse a few times in processor to get small pieces.  Add to bowl with vegetables.  Top with breadcrumbs, grated ginger, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice and zest, egg, cooled potatoes/rice, salt and pepper and mix well.  Form into patties. (If you like extra crunch, roll them in extra panko before forming patties.)

Heat skillet with olive oil until hot and add tuna patties.  Brown on each side, about three minutes per side. Place on plate with paper towel to absorb oil.  Move to oven-safe dish or pan and put in pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes. Serve with your favorite sauce (I used tzatziki) and salad.  Makes 5-6 large fish cakes, 8-10 small.