Taste Throwdown # 1: Tilapia Fish Cake with Sayote Tops & Boiled Egg

I am an avid fan of celebrity chef Bobby Flay's Food Network show called "Throwdown with Bobby Flay". It's a TV program where Flay challenges a Cook of a famous dish or food in a surprise competition hence, the name "throwdown". It's exciting and inspiring at the same time. I always look forward to how Flay will make his own version different and better than the original. Somehow, in someway I see my self in this celebrity chef. Almost always before I try on a particular recipe, I tend to evaluate it first. I scrutinize the list of ingredients, the manner of preparation and plating. These are essential elements that will make or break any food item in as far as its general acceptability is concerned. Besides, we all want to maximize our resources and time for cooking. Thus, it goes without saying that the food must be all worth it.

Inspired by the concept of the show, I thought of adopting it in the blog. And so the first post on Taste Throwdown Our Taste of Life style was born. Basically, it is going to be a weekly instalment of a benchmarked dish. I will create my own take of a particular dish I have encountered either from books, food show, restaurants, wherever food abounds. But it isn't a contest at all (let's just say it's about challenging the daring cook in me). Overall, I will try to tailor-fit the recipe by using local ingredients and making it tastes good and /or better for less (because a good food doesn't necessarily need to be expensive).

On to the initial Taste Throwdown entry, here's Tilapia Fish Cakes with Sayote Tops & Boiled Egg. The benchmark of this dish is "Salmon Fish Cakes with Spinach and Poached Egg" featured in the book How to Cook by Hamlyn. I made a very pinoy version of this dish which is likewise relatively cheaper. I preferred to hard boiled the egg because I have kids who will be my panelists. But you can also opt for poached or soft boiled. If you want an equally healthy and tasty vegetables other than Sayote leaves, Camote Tops makes a good alternative too.

Tilapia Fish Cakes with Sayote Tops & Boiled Egg

Yield 6 cakes

What you need:
1 1/2 cups tilapia fillet (coarsely chopped), 1 small red onion (chopped), 4 cloves garlic (minced), 1/2 cups diced potatoes, 1/2 cups diced carrots, 2 1/2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 tsp ground whole basil leaves, salt and pepper to taste, 2 small eggs, 2 tbsps all purpose flour, canola oil for frying, 500 g sayote tops (blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes, seasoned with salt or fish sauce)

How to make:

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add fish, potatoes and carrots. Season with salt, pepper and basil. Saute for 2 minutes or until fish is tender. Take out from the pan and transfer to a small bowl. Add eggs and all purpose flour. Mix well. Heat canola oil in a frying pan. Drop 2 tablespoons of fish batter and fry 3 minutes on each side or until it turns brown. Drain excess oil on paper towels. Set fish cakes on individual plates, on a bed of sayote tops. Top each one with some sayote tops and finish with the egg.