Delicious tuna cutlets. — Photos: JANITHA SUKUMARAN Most of us love fish cutlets as there are no bones and they are full of flavour. Growing up, my mother used to take the tedious route to making the best cutlets with fresh fish.
Her favourite choice of fish was ikan parang (wolf herring) which gave the cutlets a great taste, but was my private hell as I was often the one tasked with removing the millions of tiny bones from the fish after it was steamed. With time and after much protest from me, she chose an easier option – tenggiri (mackerel) which had larger bones, mainly the spine and fins. One fine day, she shared a secret my grandmother had taught her that would cut the prep time by half.
It was what Amma used during hard times, when she couldn’t go to the market or finances were tight – canned tuna! Canned tuna is versatile and handy; it can be used in pasta as a stirfry and for cutlets. Tuna cutlets can be served as appetisers, snacks or with rice and curry. If you like a good fish cutlet without having to spend hours in the kitchen, then this recipe is for you.
— Contributed by Janitha Sukumaran; sjanitha.wixsite.com/injipuliandstuff Getting all the ingredients ready for tuna cutlet.
Ingredients: 2 cans of tuna flakes in water (do not use those in oil or with chilli) 1 medium sized potato 1 small onion − chopped 2cm ginger − chopped 2 green/red chillies − deseeded and chopped 1 egg (separate yolk from the white) 1 cup bread crumbs 1 tsp pepper and salt.