Vegan Mofo 2018 Post 16: "Fish" Balls

"Fish" balls are lightly crunchy bite.

The smallest country on Africa's mainland, The Gambia's population of two million is almost the same amount of Philadelphia inhabitants. The Gambia--a tropical climate region-- is named after the river its nearly surrounded by, a river that in fact empties into the Atlantic Ocean. English is the official language although there are other spoken native tongues. In culinary regard, foods such as rice, black eyed peas, cassava, plantains, peanuts, cabbage are among the fare thoroughly enjoyed.
Gambians love their fish balls, having them at any time of the day usually with a light stew or over white rice. I never had fish balls (let alone a whole fish staring lifelessly at me from its POV on a plate) and recreated a Genius Kitchen recipe.
I was utterly surprised that these no animals harmed delicacies came out well. After all, it hasn't been a winning week as far as experiments go. The crisp exterior holds up for the creamy, savory interior-- very interesting flavors and texture profiles.
As for now, I am super stuffed. I ate five "fish" balls with a basic topping of Just Mayo Garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. For dessert, I had a glass of almond milk alongside the mistake makroudhs (kept in the refrigerator). They turned into chilled dense butter cookies with the cherry date filling enhancing their sweetness. Funny how failures become something entirely unexpected.

"Fish" Balls Ingredients and Preparation

1/4 cup walnuts, crushed
1 cup cornmeal mush
1 cup mashed potatoes
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 flax eggs (2 tablespoon flax meal + 6 tablespoon water)
1 cup breadcrumbs (used Watusee Foods Chickpea Crumbs)

coconut or olive oil for frying

Combine walnuts, cornmeal mush. mashed potatoes, onion, ketchup, lemon juice, parsley, paprika, salt, and black pepper-- mix well.

Tablespoon out the batter. Set up a station for the flax egg and the breadcrumbs. Dip the balls in flax and coat them in breadcrumbs.

Covered and ready to go.

In a skillet, pan sear the "fish" balls on all sides.

Serve hot.