Serves: 4
Don’t be put off by the rather lengthy list of ingredients as these fish cakes are really simple to make. There is very little preparation involved and you can leave most of the manual labour to the food processor. If you are feeling really lazy you could even slice the cucumber in the machine. Don’t overcook the fishcakes as they become dry and grainy.
Ingredients
- For the fish cakes
- 550g skinless, boneless cod fillet
- 1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
- ¾ tablespoon red thai curry paste
- 3 spring onions, topped and tailed and roughly chopped
- 1 stick lemongrass, outer layer removed and roughly chopped
- 20g coriander
- 3 kaffir lime leaves, roughly chopped
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 egg white
- For the cucumber and peanut salad
- 1 cucumber
- Maldon salt
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar
- 75g salted peanuts, roughly chopped
- ½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped mint
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ tablespoon mirin
- To finish
- Plain flour for dusting
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying
Method
- Place all the ingredients for the fish cakes in the bowl of a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. Shape into 8 cakes and place on a tray. Cover with cling film and chill for a couple of hours if possible.
- Meanwhile you can make the salad: halve the cucumber lengthways and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Finely slice and place in a colander. Sprinkle over 2-3 pinches Maldon salt and leave for 30 minutes. Rinse the cucumber under cold water and pat dry. Place in a mixing bowl.
- Heat the vinegar with the palm sugar in a small saucepan and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Cool then pour over the cucumber. Stir in the remaining salad ingredients. Ideally, leave the cucumber salad for an hour or two to allow the flavours to develop.
- To serve, dust the fish cakes in a little plain flour. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the fish cakes for about 2 minutes each side. If you have to fry in batches keep the fried cakes warm in a low oven. Serve with the cucumber salad and perhaps some green salad leaves.
