Thai Fish Cakes (Tod Man Pla)

Springy red curry fish cakes with kaffir lime and green beans, fried until golden and served with sweet chilli cucumber relish.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 45 min
Cook: 15 min
Total: 1 hour
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
4 people
Difficulty
Medium

Ingredients

  • 500g skinless cod, haddock or pollock fillet, cut into chunks
  • 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves, central vein removed and very finely shredded
  • 80g green beans, very finely sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
  • 500ml vegetable oil, for frying
  • 1/2 cucumber, quartered lengthways and thinly sliced
  • 2 shallots, thinly sliced
  • 1 red chilli, thinly sliced
  • 3 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar, for the relish
  • 4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce, to serve

Method

  1. Pat the fish dry. Blend in a food processor with the curry paste, egg, fish sauce, sugar and cornflour until it forms a thick, sticky paste.

  2. Tip the paste into a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon for 1 to 2 minutes. This develops the bouncy, springy texture that makes proper Thai fish cakes.

  3. Fold in the lime leaves, green beans and coriander. Cover and chill for 30 minutes to firm up.

  4. For the relish, warm the rice vinegar, caster sugar and 3 tbsp water until the sugar dissolves. Cool, then pour over the cucumber, shallots and chilli.

  5. With wet hands, shape the mixture into 12 flat patties about 6cm wide and 1.5cm thick.

  6. Heat the oil in a wide, deep frying pan to 170°C. Fry the fish cakes in batches for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until puffed and golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

  7. Serve warm with the relish and sweet chilli sauce.