Thai Fish Cakes (Tod Man Pla)

The Recycled Cook

By Adrian Sleeman

Thai Fishcakes (Tod Man Pla)



The main difference, apart from the flavour of course, between Thai fishcakes and the more common western variety is that in Thai cooking they don't use potato, in fact they use very little other than fish, chillies and some snake beans.

 Don't be put off by the name, snake beans are just a very long variant of our own French beans, in fact, as they are quite hard to come by in most supermarkets I use the more readily available variety most of the time. I also miss going to Chinatown for food.
Red fish fillets
That is one of the things I miss about living in London is the large number of small asian supermarkets where you can find a wide variety of exotic ingredients.

 These fishcakes can be made with any flaky fish but red fish such as Red snapper or red mullet works very well.
Skin and trim your fish fillets making sure to pin-bone them carefully then chop and blitz the fish fillets in a blender. Add one or two tablespoons of Thai red curry paste (depending on how hot you like it), some chopped coriander, a tablespoon of Thai fish sauce (Nam Pla) and a pinch of sugar.

I also like to add some finely chopped Kaffir Lime leaves which gives a more authentic Thai flavour but grated lime zest and is a good substitution. As with all of my dishes I do,like to use what I have left over rather than have to buy lots of ingredients especially.

Chop the beans into roughly 1cm lengths and add to the blended fish mixture folding in gently to keep the fishcakes light.

 Form the fishcakes with clean hands into evenly sized patties. The easiest way to keep them uniform is to use a ladle or a large spoon and level off with a knife.

 Put the fishcakes in the fridge for at least an hour as they will keep their shape much better when cooking.
Fry gently in a little light oil turning once when you see the colour come half way up the fishcake.

 These are now ready to serve, the traditional dressing is a cucumber and chilli dip (blog to follow) but sweet Thai dipping sauce from your supermarket works very well too.

 For a more substantial meal add noodles and stir fried vegetables.
Som Tam is also great with these. 


Disclaimer: The suggestions and tips on these blog pages are meant to be used in conjunction with common sense. Keeping your family healthy is the priority. Do not use food that is unfit for human consumption and always follow sensible food hygiene guidelines.

  


http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/food-leftovers-safety.aspx


Always be careful in the kitchen, we accept no responsibility for any accidents caused as a direct or indirect result of preparing any of these dishes. Children should not be allowed to handle sharp cooking implements without the supervision of an adult. 

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