A few years ago, we were introduced to the guisado de marlin ahumado, at the now sadly out of busness Mariscos Los Delfines, on Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas in Morelia.
Later, this became a favorite appetizer as a tostada at Mariscos La Güera .

Last year, I did some investigation on how this savory dish was prepared. I bought a couple of big frozen pieces at Pescadería Soleman of what turned out to be atún ahumado. It seems quite satisfactory, despite the substitution. I stll had over a pound of the smoked tuna in the freezer, and decided to make smoked fish cakes, something along the line of crab cakes.

The (somewhat long) story follows.

I looked up several recipes on the Web, which were useful in refining to my taste the basic fish cakes recipe in "The Joy of Cooking".
My "measurements" are approximate.

I started with 6 medium sized potatoes with the skins on, which I pressure cooked until tender. While they were cooking I slowly cooked about 1/2 cup of finely minced onion in a couple of tablespoons of butter. That was then left to cool.

When the potatoes were done, about 12 minutes, I peeled them by hand.You may wish to let then cool a bit before handling.

The potatoes went into into a large bowl and were mashed with bout 2 tbs butter. The cooked onions were then added.

Leaving them to cool awhile, I hand shredded the smoked tuna. Next, back at the mash, I added 2 whole eggs. In went the tuna, some finely chopped fresh parsley, some chopped cilantro, a few dashes of salsa chipotle, a dash of garlic powder (a lazy lapse but it was fine), salt and pepper to taste. Mmm... also a squirt or two of white wine worcestershire sauce.

I then put a couple of cups of fine, dry bread crumbs, seasoned with a little smoked paprika and seasoning salt in a pan.

I scooped up approximately 1/2 cup balls of the potato-tuna mixture and dropped them onto the bread crumbs. Carefully turning the fish cakes, I coated both sides and the edges. These cakes were placed on plastic film on a tray, covered with another sheet of plastic fils, and refrigerated about an hour.

Meanwhle, I improvised a somewhat picante version of Tartar Sauce.

The afternoon before I'd made an Ensalada de Nopalitos (Prickly Pear salad) with sliced onion, fresh chile, lime juice salt and chopped tomato. All it lacked to finish was some chopped cilantro, sliced radishes and crumbled white cheese. Queso fresco, a rather bland cheese, is the norm, but I had some goat cheese to crumble over all.

To cook the Smoked Fish Cakes, I heated about 1/2 inch grapeseed oil in a large iron skillet, on medium heat. I was able to cook the fishcakes in two batches, about 4 minutes to each side, moving them carefuly about the skillet for optimum browning. Neverheless, a couple got a bit dark, but still acceptable. Of course, I drained them on paper towelling before placing one cake per plate on a bed of bright green arugula. A healthy portion of Nopalitos went on the side.

Here's a photo:


With this comida we drank an agua fresca de mandarinas y naranjas.
Dessert was some peeled and sectioned ripe mangos.