Smoked trout fish cakes are one of those recipes that rewards a little care and punishes shortcuts. The oat coating is non-negotiable — porridge oats, not breadcrumbs — and the smoked trout needs to stay in recognisable flakes rather than disappearing into the mash. Get those two things right and you have something worth making repeatedly.

In Scotland, Agnes Isabella would have made fish cakes with whatever came off the fishmonger's slab. At Casa Adora in Andalucía, I make smoked trout fishcakes with Spanish trucha ahumada — and the result is, I think, something she would have recognised.

This is scaled for one. Three cakes on the plate, a few more into the freezer.

Smoked Trout Fish Cakes — What You Need

• 250g trucha ahumada (Spanish cold-smoked trout), skin and bones removed, flaked
• 500g Agria potatoes, boiled and roughly mashed, cooled
• 2–3 tbsp fresh dill (eneldo), chopped
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1–2 eggs, beaten
• Seasoned plain flour, for dredging
• Porridge oats, for coating — not breadcrumbs
• Vegetable oil or a knob of butter, for frying

Chef's note: Fresh dill is hard to find in Spain — when I see it I buy a bunch and freeze what I don't use immediately. Frozen dill loses its texture and goes limp, so it works in cooked dishes only, not as a garnish. Dill seeds are a reasonable substitute when you have neither.

On the Potato

Agria is what I use. It is an excellent all-rounder with high dry matter and mashes to a fluffy, cohesive consistency — and you can find it in any Spanish supermarket. For a fish cake that needs to hold its shape in the pan, it does everything you need.

Agnes Isabella would not have recognised an Agria. What she would have reached for — in Montrose, in that kitchen at 10 Mill Street — is Edzell Blue. A Scottish heritage variety, skin the colour of a bruise, with a delicate flavour that makes a mash unlike anything a modern commercial potato produces. You will not find Edzell Blue in Spain. You will barely find it in Scotland without looking for it. But if you are north of the border and you can track one down, this is the recipe to use it in.

How to Make Fish Cakes with Oats

Make the mix
Fold the flaked trout, chopped dill, and lemon zest gently into the cooled mashed potato. Go carefully — you want the fish to stay in pieces, not disappear into the mash.

Season
Add a generous grind of black pepper and a small squeeze of lemon juice. The trout carries its own salt from the smoking, so taste before you reach for the salt cellar. Mix without overworking the potato.

Shape
Form into patties of roughly 50g each. Wet hands help. Press them firm enough to hold together in the pan.

Coat
Set up a dredging line: seasoned flour, beaten egg, porridge oats. Dust each cake in flour, dip in egg, then press into the oats until fully coated on all sides. The oats need a moment to bed in — press gently rather than rolling.

Fry
Heat a little oil (or butter, or both) in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook the cakes for 4–5 minutes per side without moving them — resist the urge. They are ready to turn when the oat crust releases cleanly from the pan and has gone a deep gold.

Serve
Eat warm with a wedge of lemon and something green alongside. Crème fraîche or a loose hollandaise works well if you want a sauce. The remainder cool on a rack, then go into the freezer once cold.

Freezer Notes

These smoked trout fish cakes freeze well. Open-freeze the cooked cakes on a tray until solid, then bag them. Reheat from frozen in a dry non-stick pan over a low-medium heat with a lid on for the first few minutes to warm through, then remove the lid to crisp the crust back up.

Smoked Trout in Spain — Trucha Ahumada

Scotland has smoked salmon; Spain has trucha ahumada, and it is worth knowing about.

The cold mountain rivers of the Pyrenees provide ideal conditions for specialist trout producers. Caviar Pirinea, for example, rears large-format trout specifically for smoking — fish with the size and fat content to take a cure properly. After harvesting, the trout are cured with local sea salts and cold-smoked over native oak or beech. Basque artisanal smokehouses work along similar lines.

Scottish smoked salmon is available in Spanish supermarkets, and it would work here. But for this recipe I used Spanish trucha ahumada — and it earns its place.

The Scottish Oat Coating

Porridge oats have been part of the Scottish kitchen far longer than breadcrumbs, and they have a rougher texture that suits smoked fish particularly well. Breadcrumbs make a smoother, more delicate crust — fine, but not what this recipe is.

FOOTNOTE

This smoked trout fish cakes recipe is featured in my Scottish Recipes collection, a gathering of traditional and adapted Scottish dishes from a Morrison with roots in Clackmannanshire. You'll also find it in my Fish & Seafood Recipes collection and my Gut Health Recipes collection — real food from a rural Andalucían kitchen, built around fermented foods, high-fibre pulses, wholegrains and prebiotic-rich ingredients.

Find more recipes and food adventures here.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef