Recipe: Thai Chicken Cakes & Satay Noodle Salad

I love the spicy, fragrant flavours of Thai food, and this meal has got to be one of the most enjoyable I’ve made lately. It felt like such a treat meal, yet it was pretty painless to make and definitely left me feeling completely virtuous.

The Thai Chicken Cakes are full of flavour, a moist but well-textured ‘burger’ that are spicy and filling. I found it such a different way to enjoy a chicken breast, without too much more effort. Definitely a little lighter than my standard Thai Green Curry too! They do take a bit of time to make (and a lot of washing up) but are totally worth it. You do need to use a decent curry paste though, I’ve been using one from Blue Dragon* recently and it’s so good – a decent kick of chilli, but a good tang and fragrance to it too. Yum!

And the noodle salad. Oh, so good! It’s fabulous cold, great with both chicken and prawns. The combination of rice noodles and peanut butter combine to make an almost creamy dressing that’s full of zingy, spicy flavor. Rice noodles are my new favorite thing, but this will also work well with easier-to-find egg noodles.

Together, these noodles and Thai chicken cakes make the perfect Fakeaway meal, great for a date night, a lazy Friday evening, or even for cooking and cooking for lunchboxes.

Ingredients (for 1)

• 1 chicken breast
• 1-2 tablespoons Thai Green Curry Paste (depending on your spice preference)
• 1 teaspoon line juice
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 50g rice noodles
• 1 carrot, spiralized, julienned or peeled
• Around 1 inch cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
• Dressing: 1 teaspoon each of honey, lime juice, fish sauce and peanut butter, plus a dash of soy sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil
• Sesame seeds

Now, the chicken cakes do need some time to chill so it’s best to make them anywhere from 2 hours in advance. Simply chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and pop into a food chopper along with the paste, lime juice and fish sauce. Season well with salt and pepper, then process until just combined. Spray a plate with oil, then using wet hands roughly shape the mixture into cakes and place on the plate. Spray the tops with a little oil, cover then chill for 2-24 hours.

When ready to cook, heat a little oil in a pan and fry the cakes on both sides until lightly golden. Transfer to a tray and cook at 180C for around 10 minutes. Meanwhile soak the noodles (I add the carrots for the final two minutes), prep the veg and shake all the dressing ingredients together.  Toss the dressing into the noodles, before adding the rest of the salad ingredients. Serve scattered with sesame seeds, alongside the chicken cakes.

I know I’ve already said it, but this was such a good meal. I was dubious about the combination of green curry alongside a satay flavour, but it really does work. I’ve kept the salad dressing free of spice as I prefer my cakes super spicy – but go with what you fancy. I’m also planning on trying the cake recipe with prawns instead of chicken – yum yum!

*This post is an entry to the Foodies100 Chinese New Year recipe challenge sponsored by Blue Dragon. The range of Blue Dragon products is available in all major supermarkets at an RRP from £0.69. To find out more, visit www.bluedragon.co.uk

As you might have guessed, I’m a huge fan of Asian flavours! What’s your favorite style of cooking?