Thai Fish Cakes (tod man pla)
The East Made Easy
Difficulty
Heat Level
Servings
3
Total Time
25 mins
A traditional dish that appears as part of many Thai meals.
Ingredients
- 180g white fish fillets (like cod, sole or monkfish)
- 20g sliced green beans
- 1 tsp Blue Dragon Thai Red Curry Paste
- 1 coriander root, or 10 stalks
- salt & pepper, for seasoning
- 1 tsp Blue Dragon Fish Sauce
- 1/2 egg
- 2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
Instructions
- Pound the coriander, garlic and salt & pepper until smooth.
- In a bowl, mix the garlic &coriander paste with the red curry paste and sugar.
- Fold in the fish, kaffir, beans and eggs and mix well.
- Divide the mixture in equal sized balls and flatten them to a patty type shape.
- Deep fry in oil of a medium heat until browned. Test the temperature with a square of bread or a small drop of mixture.
- Serve with a Thai dip of your choice.
Notes
By far the safest way to deep-fry, is with a deep fat fryer. However a saucepan or wok can work just as well. The secret is in the type of oil used, and getting it to the optimum temperature. Oils with a high burning point are ideal for deep frying - vegetable oils such as sunflour oil are perfect, whilst you should steer clear of butter and olive oils as these burn at low teperatures. It is most important when deep frying to check that the oil is at the optimum temperature for even browning, as close to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C) as possible. The oil should be of a depth to totally immerse the items of food you are wanting to fry. To test the heat of the oil you can use a cooking thermometer or fry a cube of bread. If you pop in a small cube of bread, it should have turned an even, golden brown colour after one minute of frying. It should also bubble when immersed in the oil. This will signify that it is at the right temperature. If it cooks too quickly lower the heat and if it browns too slowly, increase the heat. It goes without saying, be extremely careful when handling oil at this temperature and treat this cooking method with caution!
