Baja Fish Trim Sliders

Baja Fish Trim Sliders

Whether you have fish trim on hand, or fillets of salmon or white fish on hand, our friend and BBQ master Steve W. has created a Mexican inspired burger recipe that you can devour the same day, or make ahead and freeze the patties so they are ready any night of the week!

Note from Steve: This recipe calls to make the patties into 8 sliders (aka mini burgers), but you can just as easily make these into full sized burger patties.

Ingredients

Fish

• 450 grams (approx. 1lb) any trim / fillet of Skipper Otto fish - skin off
• 3 Tbsp red onion - finely diced
• 2 Tbsp cilantro - finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp jalapeno - finely diced
• 1 clove garlic - minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/c cup panko crumbs
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 8 small slices Monterey Jack cheese (or grated)
• 8 slider burger buns
• Cilantro - handful for garnish
• Baby arugula - handful for garnish

Tartar Sauce

• 1/2 cup tartar sauce (or make your own - Steve prefers this recipe by Ina Garten)
• 2 Tbsp adobo sauce (or to taste)

Chipotle Mayo

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce - finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp chipotle pepper
• Frozen french fries or sweet potato fries

Directions

1. Mix together the tartar sauce ingredients and set aside in the fridge
2. Mix together the mayonnaise ingredients and set aside in the fridge
3. Heat 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the red onions and jalapenos and cook for about 5 minutes until they have softened. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Set aside and let cool.
4. While the onion mixture is cooling chop the fish into small pieces. I like to chop with a knife leaving it a bit chunky. You could do this with a food processor but be careful not to turn it into a paste. You want some chunks. To the chopped fish add the cumin, salt, pepper, chopped cilantro, mayonnaise and panko. Add the onion mixture once cooled.
5. Put the fish mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes so the panko can get absorbed into the mix, then form into 8 equal size patties. A 60 gram patty is an approximate slider size, and up to 100 grams for a full size burger patty. (Note: Steve uses a mayonnaise lid, lined with plastic wrap, to form the slider patties.)
6. At this point you can freeze them and store for later, or cook them immediately. The cooking timing below is based on cooking them from frozen, so please adjust accordingly as cooking them fresh will go considerably faster.
7. To cook, heat BBQ and griddle or skillet on stovetop to medium heat. Once the griddle is hot, spray with a little oil and lay down your fish patties. I cooked them for 4 minutes on the first side then flipped them and cooked another 2 minutes on the second side. Then turn off the heat, top each patty with cheese and let them sit another minute with the heat off so the cheese melts. I cook the fish to about 125F/52C.
8. Cook french fries or sweet potato fries according to package directions, or make from scratch.

Plating:

Toast the slider buns, then add the tartar sauce to the bottom. Next add some arugula, then the patty with cheese, some cilantro and a bit more tartar sauce and place the bun top. Add fries and mayo to the side, and there you have it. Enjoy!

Servings: 2-6 people (makes 8 sliders total)

Recipe shared with us by our friend and member Steve W. – see more of his recipe creations on Instagram