At tapas restaurants, I've usually had croquetas de pollo, de jamon, or de bacalao - little fried croquettes made with chicken, Serrano ham, or bacalao, Spanish dried cod. However, I made these croquetas with salmon and served an aioli that was heavy on the lemon juice and chopped capers alongside. The technique is the same for all of them (with the exception of the long process of re-constituting the dried bacalao).
Sarah's Interpretation of Croquetas de Salmón
In a medium saucepan, melt 2 T butter and saute 1 finely chopped onion and 1 finely minced garlic clove until onions are translucent.
Add 12-16 oz. smoked salmon, ¼ c. finely chopped fresh parsley, salt and pepper to taste, and stir about 5 minutes until salmon breaks up and is heated through.
Sprinkle ¼ c. fine plain breadcrumbs and 1 c. heavy cream over salmon, stir, and cook until cream cooks down and mixture is thickened.
Remove saucepan from heat, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, overnight is okay.
When the salmon is cool, roll about 1½-2 T. into 1" balls.
Dredge each ball in flour, shaking off excess, dip in beaten egg (it will take about 2 large eggs for the croquetas), then in plain breadcrumbs. I used panko, the light Japanese style beadcrumb used for tempura.
Deep fry croquetas in hot oil until they are light golden brown. (I actually had about 1" oil in a deep frying pan and fried one side at a time). When you remove them from the oil to drain, they will continue to cook an darken to a toasty brown.
Serve with a aioli that has been mixed with chopped capers and extra lemon juice.
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