Millet and salmon croquettes

In my last post I explained a bit about millet and its health benefits. Now you can have a go at a delicious recipe using millet, which my students and children love.

Given the variation in plant species that may be described as "millet", the batches of millet grain you buy at health food stores can be a bit variable in quality.

You may thus need to experiment a little with the quantity of water you add when cooking millet. Millet tends to absorb water readily, so I usually find that I need 3 cups of water to 1 cup of millet.

When cooking whole grains, the important thing is to bring the cooking water to a boil (I usually add boiling water from a kettle in the first place to speed up the process), then turn the heat right down low and put the lid on tightly, so that the water simmers without boiling over.

You will need a good quality pan with a thick base and possibly also a heat disperser, depending on how easily you can control the heat source on your cooker. If possible, use a gas flame rather than an electric cooker.

Do not be tempted to take off the lid and check your millet for at least 15 to 20 minutes after it has started simmering - you want to keep the steam inside the pan as this helps to cook the grain without the pan drying out.

Your aim is to end up with soft cooked millet, no water in the pan and no burnt bits!

Recipe

Millet and salmon croquettes

Ingredients

• 1 cup millet
• 3 cups water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 fillet fresh salmon
• ½ red pepper (grilled, peeled, washed and cut finely)
• 3 spring onions (scallions) or chives (chopped finely)
• 3 sprigs fresh herbs, e.g., dill or basil or parsley (finely chopped)
• Black pepper
• 2 teaspoons white miso (or more to taste)
• Rice flour
• Olive oil

Method

• Steam the fresh fish with bay leaves and a pinch of sea salt for 5 minutes or until cooked.
• Wash the millet, add 3 cups of water and a bay leaf, bring to the boil and then turn the heat down low and cook with the lid tightly on for 35 minutes, until all the water has evaporated and the millet is soft.
• Break up the steamed salmon with a fork and mix with the millet, spring onions, red pepper, black pepper, fresh herbs, and 2 tsp white miso (N.B. do not dilute the miso in water otherwise the croquettes will be too soggy to stick together). Check for taste and add more miso if necessary.
• Shape the mixture into croquettes, coat with some rice flour and put in the fridge for 15 minutes to cool down, as this helps to stop the croquettes from crumbling.
• Brush with a little olive oil and bake in the oven until golden brown all over. Alternatively, you can pan fry them if you wish.

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