Machipongo Seafood Cakes

Rick and I are fortunate to live in an area where seafood is abundant and cooking it is an art form.  Most families have their own recipes for a wide variety of crab, fish and shrimp dishes.  This creates a conundrum for those of us on Delmarva.  Most of us can prepare better seafood than all but the very best seafood restaurants.  Nevertheless if you don’t want to cook your own, and don’t want to spend a lot of money, there are numerous seafood markets that will sell prepared seafood.

The Great Machipongo Clam Shack is one of those places.  Currently located in Nassawadox on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, the Great Machipongo Clam Shack was originally a literal shack on the side of the road just down the way from the new location in — you guessed it — Machipongo, Virginia.  They sold fresh, mostly local, seafood and had a small kitchen where they would prepare soups and sandwiches.  Eventually they moved to a larger establishment and expanded their menu.

My first encounter with their seafood cakes was in their original location.  We had been working down in Virginia and stopped by on the way home for a bite to eat.  What a wonder this thing was!  Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside.  It contained bits of fish, crab, scallop and shrimp formed into a patty and pan fried, then served on a toasted bun.  I seem to recall they were called something else, (Cobb Island Cakes, perhaps?) but the restaurant offers two of these seafood cakes now:  Bayside with all four ingredients I remember from my original sandwich, and Seaside with fish, scallops and shrimp.

You can use any firm, flaky white fish for these cakes. I used cod because I had some in my freezer.  I also had some of the itty, bitty frozen salad shrimp, but if you have larger shrimp available, you could also cut some into small pieces.  Ditto for the scallops.  You could omit the shrimp and scallops and still have a delicious fish patty.  The method given in this recipe will work for many kinds of food, including veggies, as long as it’s small enough to form into a patty.  Feel free to experiment.

I did not use crab in these seafood cakes for a couple reasons.  The first is that crab is expensive.  The second is crab is a sublime ingredient that in my opinion is best enjoyed when it’s the star of the dish, as in crab imperial or crab cake.  There are exceptions, but as mentioned, crab is a bit too expensive and these seafood cakes are pleasing without it.

This is one of those recipes where you cook everything and then reassemble it and cook it again.  So it is perfect for using up leftover mashed potatoes and fish.

Tartar sauce is a natural condiment to serve with seafood cakes.  You may use storebought, but the recipe I’ll provide is so simple you may decide to ditch the readymade stuff and make it as you need it.

I used flour and bread crumbs to coat the seafood patties, but there’s no reason you couldn’t use cracker meal which is often used for crab cakes.  You could also omit the bread crumbs altogether.

When researching and developing this recipe, I relied heavily on the technique outlined a recipe for Bermuda Cod Cakes.  Don’t let the number of steps intimidate you.  None of them are particularly difficult and if you plan ahead to use leftovers your effort will be greatly reduced.

Ingredients:

For the Machipongo Seafood Cakes:

• 1 lb white fish (I used cod)
• 4 oz salad shrimp (the itty, bitty ones)
• 4 oz very small bay scallops
• 2-3 medium potatoes (fist sized), cooked and mashed (between 1 ½ – 2 cups)
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup flour
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay, more if you like it
• Hot sauce (optional)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ½ cup flour, seasoned with a little salt, pepper and paprika (to taste), for dredging
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs, for dredging
• vegetable oil for frying (I used sunflower oil)

For the tartar sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 medium onion, minced very fine
• 2 – 3 heaping spoonfuls of pickle relish

Method:

I’m going to assume you will be dealing with uncooked ingredients.  It will take about a half hour once you start cooking, plus additional time for the potatoes and fish to cool enough to form the patties, then cook them…about an hour total depending on how efficiently you can work.  If you’re using leftovers you may want to adjust the seasoning accordingly to avoid over salting.

1. Peel and cube the potatoes, put the in a small pan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until easily pierced with a fork.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the fish, scallops and shrimp in any manner you desire.
3. I steamed the fish by placing the pieces in a colander and putting the colander into a pot that is big enough to hold it.  Put a couple inches of water in the bottom of the pot to create steam.  The fish is done when it becomes opaque and flakes easily with a fork.  Remove to a plate and allow to cool.
4. For the shrimp and scallops, I sauteed them in a small frying pan.  It only takes a minute or so.  Set these aside as well.
5. When the potatoes are finished, drain them well and mash them.  I did not add milk in this instance, but I typically flavor my mashed potatoes with milk, butter, salt and pepper.  Allow these to cool.
6. While waiting for everything to cool down, make the tartar sauce.  Mix the mayonnaise with the minced onion and relish.  Add more relish if desired.  Put in the fridge to allow the flavors to mix.
7. You will have time to clean up the various pots and pans (sorry about that).
8. Now that the potatoes and fish are cool enough to handle, it’s time to mix the seafood cakes.  Use the largest mixing bowl you have and get out a skillet large enough to cook several burger sized patties at a time.
9. Drain any liquid from the fish, shrimp and scallops.  Break up the fish into pieces and add the fish, shrimp and scallops to the mixing bowl.
10. Add the potatoes, parsley, salt and pepper, and Old Bay.  Use your hands to mix everything together.  Don’t over mix, you want to be able to see pieces of seafood.
11. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and measure in the flour and optional hot sauce.
12. Fold the egg mixture into the potato and seafood mixture.
13. Set up a dredging station.  I use paper plates for this.  Place a 1/2 cup of flour seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika on one plate, and 1 cup of plain bread crumbs on the other.
14. Use a 1/2 cup measure to scoop the mix up and form into patties about 1/2 inch thick.  You want to be firm when forming the patties to help them stay together. {Edit:  I had something similar this weekend that was slider sized and served on a soft dinner roll.  Yum!}
15. As you finish forming each one, place it onto the plate with the flour and press lightly to coat.  Turn the patty over and repeat on the other side.  Repeat with the bread crumbs.  Remove the breaded patty to a platter and allow to set briefly.  The drier the surface of the patty, the easier it will be to fry them.
16. You should have five or six good sized patties.
17. Add enough oil to the pan to measure half the depth of the patties.  Heat over high heat.  You want to hear the oil sing when you add the patties to cook, but not so hot that it’s smoking.  This helps the patty cook quickly and limits the amount of oil that is absorbed.
18. Set the patties gently into place without crowding them in the pan.  I work in batches.  Once they are set in place, leave them alone for a couple minutes.  Adjust the heat down if necessary.
19. They are ready to flip when you can see a color change on the sides of the patties.  Because there are so many things in the patty, they tend to break easily so I use two spatulas to flip them.  One to lift and guide into the other one that is used to lower the patty back into the hot oil.  You should have a nice crust and color on the cooked side.  The second side tends to cook a little more quickly, about a minute.  It’s ok to flip the patty again if you’re not happy with the color, just be brief about it.
20. When finished, remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
21. Add more oil to the skillet if necessary and repeat with the second batch.
22. Enjoy with the tartar sauce.

If you are fortunate enough to visit the area, check out The Great Machipongo Clam Shack and try them out. Or, visit their website and make arrangements to have an order shipped to you.