Thai Fish Cakes Recipes

THAI FISH CAKES

Steps:

• Place fish, red curry paste, cilantro/coriander, fish sauce, lime and egg in a food processor. Whizz until the fish is minced and it looks like a paste. (See video)
• Transfer to a bowl and stir through rice flour and green beans until flour is all incorporated. (Note 4)
• Measure 1/4 cup of mixture (I use an ice cream scoop - Note 5), form 1cm / 2/5" thick patties.
• Heat enough oil in skillet over medium high heat to cover the base (4 tbsp or so)
• Place in oil, cook 2 minutes until deep golden brown, then turn and cook the other side for 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towel lined plate.
• Repeat with remaining mixture, adding more oil into the skillet if required.
• Serve with Sweet Chilli Sauce, garnished with cilantro/coriander leaves and lime wedges on the side. Add a side of Thai Fried Rice or even just plain jasmine rice to make a meal!

THAI FISH CAKES

Steps:

• For the fish cakes, place the fish, fish sauce, red curry paste, lime leaf, galangal, lemongrass, coriander root, egg, palm sugar, beans, and lime juice in a food processor and blend to a paste. Alternatively this can be done in a pestle and mortar - pound the ingredients to a jelly-like paste.
• Remove and, with damp hands, take a piece about the size of a walnut. Roll it into a ball and then flatten it to a thin disc. Lay on a floured plate. Repeat until all the mixture has been used. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
• For the dip, beat together the vinegar, honey, two tablespoons of water, the lime juice and fish sauce. Taste and adjust the honey and lime juice to get it sweeter or sourer, however you want it. Add the cucumber, carrot, shallot and chilli. Leave for 30 minutes to an hour for the flavours to develop.
• Heat the groundnut oil in a frying pan and cook the fish cakes until golden-brown all over - this should take a couple of minutes on either side.
• Serve on a banana leaf with the sauce in a dish to one side. Garnish with the lamb's lettuce.

CLASSIC THAI FISH CAKES

Steps:

• Rinse fish and pat dry thoroughly. Cut into chunks and place in food processor or large chopper.
• In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the coconut milk , fish sauce, chili powder, cumin , coriander, and brown sugar. Stir with a fork to combine, then pour into the processor over the fish.
• Add 1/2 cup bread crumbs , makrut lime leaf strips, green onion, galangal or ginger, garlic, and chili pepper. Pulse to combine. You should be able to pick this mixture up in your hand and form it into cakes. If you find it too wet, add more breadcrumbs and pulse again until you get a good consistency. (Much of this will depend on the fish you're using and how much moisture it contains).
• Scoop up a small amount in your hand (about the size of a golf ball), pat into a small cake and set on a clean plate. Note that traditional ​Thai fish cakes are small and not too thick (about 2 inches in diameter and 3/4- to 1-inch thick). It helps to rinse your hands every so often with cool water to prevent the mixture from sticking.
• Set the plate of cakes in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up. Meanwhile, pour oil into a small frying pan or wok , at least 1-inch deep, and prepare your garnishes.
• Heat oil; when hot enough (a breadcrumb should sizzle and cook immediately when dropped in), gently set cakes in oil. Fry 30 seconds to 1 minute before turning, gently lifting cakes from the bottom of the pan. Fry until golden brown and drain on paper towel.
• Serve immediately with cucumber and Thai sweet chili sauce on the side for dipping. Top with fresh cilantro and serve with lime wedges that should be squeezed over just before eating.

THAI FISH CAKES

Steps:

• Place the contents of the salmon packets into a large bowl. Stir in the panko, egg, curry paste, cilantro and egg until thoroughly incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste if desired.
• Shape the fish mixture into 3 patties (having damp hands helps!). Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Place the patties in the skillet and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side or until cooked through and lightly browned.
• Serve immediately, with Thai cucumber salad and sweet chili sauce on the side.

THAI SALMON FISH CAKES

Steps:

• Place the chilli, garlic, lemongrass, fish sauce, brown sugar, salt, cumin, spring onions/scallions, garlic and ginger in a food processor. Pulse until fairly well combined.
• Add the salmon and pulse again for a few seconds. Finally add in the coriander/cilantro and kaffir limes leaves and pulse until everything is mostly combined. It's good to leave a little texture and colour, so don't over pulse.
• Using a spoon, scoop out the fish mix and form in little balls in your hand - about the size of a walnut. Put on a plate, and place in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up a little whilst you prepare the vegetable ribbons and chilli dip.
• For the chilli dip, mix the sugar and lime juice until the sugar dissolves. Add in the fish sauce and the chopped chillies. Put to one side.
• For the vegetable ribbons, use a vegetable peeler remove the outer skin of the carrots. Then use your peeler to peel strips from both the carrot and the cucumber. You'll need to stop before you get to the seeds in the centre of the cucumber though, or you'll end up with some seriously squidgy ribbons on your hands.
• When you're ready to cook the fish cakes, heat the oil in a large skillet/frying pan, over a medium-high heat. When hot, add in the fish cake balls and squash down a little with a spatula/fish slice. Cook for about a minute to a minute-and-a-half on each side, until golden brown.
• Serve the fish cakes with the vegetable ribbons and drizzle with a bit of the chilli dip.

THAI FISH CAKES

Steps:

• Put the salmon into a food processor with the egg, lemongrass paste, curry paste, fish sauce and lime leaves. Season with salt and pepper and blend until the mixture comes together but still has some texture. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the sliced beans. Cover and leave in the fridge until needed.
• To make the salad, mix together the carrot, cucumber, red onion, radishes, coriander and mixed leaves in a large bowl.
• Heat a large pan over a medium-high heat. Divide the fish cake mixture into eight equal-sized pieces and shape into patties. Spray a little oil into the pan and add four of the fish cakes, spacing them apart and flattening each one slightly. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Set the cooked fish cakes aside on kitchen paper while you cook the remaining fish cakes.
• Add the rice vinegar and soy sauce to the salad and mix well. Divide between serving plates and add two fish cakes and a lime half to each plate. Serve straight away.

THAI FISH CAKES (TOD MUN PLA)

Steps:

• Fish cake:
• Combine the fish, curry paste, egg whites, fish sauce, and sugar in a food processor. Pulse a few times, to mix until it forms a smooth, thick, and sticky paste, 2 minutes or so. Once finished, poke the fish paste with a spoon. It should be firm, elastic, and springy. Transfer the fish paste into a big bowl.
• Fold the green beans into the paste using a spatula.
• Heat 1/2-inch oil in a small deep pot over medium heat until hot (*Footnote 4).
• Work on the fish cakes in batches. Use a cookie scoop to transfer a ball of 2 tablespoons of fish paste onto an oiled spatula. Then use the back of another spatula or a large spoon to flatten the ball into a 1/4-inch (1/2-cm) thick disc. Gently slide the fish cake into the pan. Fry until the bottom side turns golden, about 30 to 40 seconds. Flip and cook the other side until golden. The whole process should take about 1 minute. (*Footnote 5) To test doneness, transfer a fish cake onto a plate and poke it with a toothpick. You should feel the bouncy resistance and the toothpick should come out clean.
• Sauce
• Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl right before serving.
• Serve the hot fish cake with dipping sauce as an appetizer, or serve them on top of rice or noodles as a main. Enjoy!
• You can store the cooked fish cakes in the fridge for a couple days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. One note: do not refrigerate the uncooked fish paste. I did it once, and fried fish cakes made from day-old fish paste and it resulted in a tough and grainy texture. I had to put it back into the food processor and beat two more egg whites into it to get the texture fluffy again.

THAI FISH CAKES

Steps:

• Combine fish, 1/2 cup flour, oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, cilantro, green onions, and egg in a food processor. Process until well combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Shape mixture into patties, and dust with flour.
• Pour enough oil into a heavy skillet to fill the pan with 1/2 inch of oil. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Fry fish cakes for 8 minutes, turning once, or until golden brown.

THAI FISHCAKES

Steps:

• Into a food processor put the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, spring onion, chilli, coriander and the tbsp oil. Pulse until it is well chopped up.
• Add the fish, fish sauce, salt, lime zest, sugar and egg and whizz until it forms a smooth paste. Scoop out into a bowl and, using your hands, pick up the mixture and repeatedly through it against the side of the bowl. Do this for 3-4 minutes (this thickens and aerates the mixture). Chill the mixture for 15 minutes.
• Shape into little patties and shallow fry for a few minutes on each side until golden and cooked through.