Thai food. I absolutely adore it. It’s just a cuisine that makes the tongue do a dance after every bite/ mouthful! Sweet, sour, salty, spicy, tangy! All rolled into one! Absolutely mouth-watering! However, I have to admit, thai is the one cuisine that I seldom cook at home. I usually head out to the restaurants and leave it to the pros! Especially with the balancing of the flavours!
But I decided to be adventurous one Friday afternoon after getting off work early. I saw Wince (The Hungry Excavator) post a photo of him making some Thai Fish Cake earlier in the week, and I knew instantly I had to make some! So I looked for a recipe during my lunch time, and off I went to Springvale to grab the ingredients after work!
It actually wasn’t too difficult to make! In fact, the only time consuming thing was cutting the long snake beans thinly. Besides that, everything is whizzed in the food processor and viola! You’ve got some delicious fish cakes for dinner! hehe So give these a shot. They are perfect party food, and are also great as starters. hehe Oh yes! Let’s not forget the spicy and tangy red nam jim sauce to go with the fish cakes! SO GOOD! The mr couldn’t get enough!
Thai Fish Cakes with Red Nam Jim (adapted from SBS, a Teage Ezard recipe)
600g fish paste
70g red curry paste
1 egg
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
4 fresh kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
10 snake beans (or green beans), thinly slices
Vegetable oil for shallow frying
Steps :
1) In a food processor, place the fish paste, red curry paste, egg, fish sauce and sugar and blend till mixture is smooth and well combined.
2) Scoop the mixture into a large mixing metal bowl and add the finely shredded kaffir lime leaves and snake beans.
3) Mix them together till everything is well combined.
4) In a non-stick pan, heat some vegetable oil on medium heat, enough for shallow frying. Roll the mixture into balls and flatten them with your palm. Mine was about 5 cm in diameter and about 1 cm in thickness. Fry them until both sides are brown and crispy.
5) Drain them on some paper towel and serve them with the homemade red nam jim sauce (to follow).
Red Nam Jim Sauce
2 red birdseye chilli, seeded and roughly chopped
4 long red chillies, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
Handful of coriander leaves and roots
2 tbs shaved palm sugar, add more if needed to balance flavour
125ml lime juice
1 1/2 tbs fish sauce
Steps :
1) In a mortar and pestle, add the chillies, garlic and coriander and pound till it forms a paste. Do be patient, as this might take a while!
2) Add the palm sugar and combine. Add the lime juice, a little at a time, until the mixture is well combined then add the fish sauce to balance the taste. It should be a little like a wetter version of a salsa. Remember to taste and add more of the flavourings to balance the sweet, sour and tang!
ENJOY!
Remember to always bake and cook with love! xx
