Thai style fish cakes
One of my favourite Thai starters, easy to put together and also great as a quick snack dish. I tend to shallow fry these rather than deep fry. You can also cook these in advance and then warm through in the oven a few hours later. I've also included a recipe for the red curry paste (my go-to recipe from Chiang Mai cookery school) if you would like to make it yourself. Shop bought paste will work just as well if you want to use that.
400g white fish fillets such as cod, haddock or halibut
10 fresh or frozen lime leaves, vein removed and finely chopped
20g corn or rice flour
5g baking powder
1 green chili finely chopped
10ml fish sauce
50g red curry paste (see below)
1 egg
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well combined
Place in the fridge for an hour to let the flavours develop
To fry
200ml sunflower oil
Place the oil in a wok or frying pan and heat to 160c
Take a dessertspoonful of the fish mix and lower gently into the pan/wok, do the same with the remainder of the mix, take care not to overfill the pan/wok
Allow to cook for a couple of minutes each side
You can cook the fish cakes in batches, placing each cooked batch on a plate with kitchen paper in a warming oven
Thai Red curry paste
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
¼ tsp black peppercorns
3 cardamom pods crushed and seeds removed
10g coriander roots or stalks if you cannot get the root, finely chopped
1 shallot finely chopped
1 heaped teaspoon finely grated ginger
1 clove garlic grated
2 stalks lemongrass grated
5 dried lime leaves or fresh if you can get them
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
2 red chilies or more if you like heat
2g sea salt
Take all the ingredients and place in a mortar and pestle and break down until it forms a paste.
You can also use a food processor, but the mortar and pestle gives better results flavour wise.
¼ tsp black peppercorns
3 cardamom pods crushed and seeds removed
10g coriander roots or stalks if you cannot get the root, finely chopped
1 shallot finely chopped
1 heaped teaspoon finely grated ginger
1 clove garlic grated
2 stalks lemongrass grated
5 dried lime leaves or fresh if you can get them
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
2 red chilies or more if you like heat
2g sea salt
Take all the ingredients and place in a mortar and pestle and break down until it forms a paste.
You can also use a food processor, but the mortar and pestle gives better results flavour wise.
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