Repurpose those thin tail end pieces from your wild salmon or the remnants from slicing, and transform them into mouth-watering salmon cakes. Infused with ginger, Thai chiles, coriander, onion, and celery, these patties are a flavorful delight.

Do the cakes some justice by refrigerating them for at least an hour. This process lets the panko bread crumbs sufficiently absorb liquid, ensuring that the cakes maintain their form. The F&W test kitchen revealed that these crispy-on-the-outside, moist-on-the-inside cakes were a big hit, particularly when served with garlic aioli.

For those who don't have access to fresh salmon, a practical alternative would be drained canned salmon. Remember to drain as much liquid as possible for a firm formation.

While crafting these patties, include lemongrass, a characteristic herb with a lean fibrous stem and pointy-top leaves. The fresh variety, commonly used in Southeast Asian dishes, leaves a lemony aroma behind. Dice its tender innermost part finely, after discarding the hard outer leaves.

Turn these cakes into delightfully small appetizers by shaping them into miniature, 1-inch-wide patties, and reducing the cooking time to 1-2 minutes on either side. A pairing suggestion for these aromatic appetizers is a subtly herbal Italian white like Piero Mancini Vermentino di Gallura.

Remember, you can prepare and refrigerate raw salmon patties for up to a day. And our garlic aioli sans fresh basil can be chilled for two days.

Find a detailed recipe for the flavorful salmon cakes and accompanying aioli that includes finely diced yellow onion, celery, lemongrass, ginger, red or green Thai chiles, a pound of skinless preferably wild salmon, a large lightly beaten egg, panko, ground coriander, mayonnaise, and scallions at the end of the article.

As for preparing the dish, preheat an oven to 400°F. Roast garlic cloves on foil and drizzle with oil. While the garlic is roasting, sauté onions, celery and lemongrass with a tad of salt until the onion is soft and clear, then add ginger and chiles. Let this fragrant mixture cool before incorporating it with salmon, egg, panko, coriander, mayo and some salt. Chill this mix while simultaneously creating the aioli with creamy garlic paste, scallions and more mayonnaise.

Once the aioli is chilling, it's time to form the patties and cook them until browned.

Before serving, stir some fresh chopped basil into the aioli and serve alongside your salmon cakes.

This recipe first graced the pages of Food & Wine magazine in the July 2025 issue.