Atlantic Blowfish Satsuma Age (Japanese Fish Cake)

Some years there are so many blowfish in the water you can’t catch anything else because they are voracious and will take any line with any bait at any time.

Then there are years where they don’t show up at all, for whatever reason may strike their fancy. This was an odd year because some days I could catch a lot, and some days there weren’t so much as a ghost of them. When I finally set my sights on making satsuma age, which is Japanese fish cake, I couldn’t find any for weeks (and you know, I never buy what I could get for free or reduced price.)

So I gave up and on the last day of summer, myself, my husband, and the kids went to go catch some crabs. I chopped up some chicken leg bones (I had cooked the meat itself but saved the bones) to release the marrow, and lo and behold! We pulled up about two dozen in an hour.

Excited, I ferreted them home, filet’d them, and then set to making and storing satsuma age for the winter—they freeze well and can be used in a whole bunch of other dishes. Fish cake (and fish balls) are a staple in oden and hotpot, but they’re delicious freshly fried on their own. This is a no frills recipe, with only blow fish (but you can sub with any white fleshed non-oily fish), but if you want it bouncier, squid and shrimp should be added.

I had a lonely baby carrot, chives and a pepper from the garden, as well as quail eggs so I was all set.

Ingredients

• 2 cups clean blowfish filet
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 4 quail eggs (or 1 chicken egg)
• 1 tablespoon minced chives
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon vegetable, corn, or peanut oil (plus more for frying)
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoons sugar (more if you like it sweeter, less if you prefer it more savory)
• pinch of msg (optional)
• 1 tablespoon minced pepper, hot or bell (optional)
• 1 tablespoon minced carrots, steamed (optional)
• 1 tablespoon minced shiitake mushroom (optional)

1. Heat oil on stove on medium heat (or a little lower in cast iron as fishcake burns easily on the outside while still raw on the inside.)
2. In a blender, combine blowfish, flour, corn starch, mirin, egg, water, sugar, salt, garlic clove, msg, oil, and blend until well combined.
3. Fold in vegetables, if using.
4. Drop in balls with a spoon, about 1 tablespoon each. Fry until golden on the outside and the interior is cooked through.