Mama Noi’s Thai fish cakes

Marion Grasby recreates her mum's bold, bright fish cakes using a time-tested technique for keeping the texture light and bouncy that is... unexpected, but super effective.

Credit: Sippakorn Wongthanapa

• makes

  25-30

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500g fish fillets, cut into roughly 3 cm chunks (e.g. snapper, barramundi, tuna, or mackerel)
• 6 makrut lime leaves, destemmed, roughly chopped
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
• ¼ cup finely sliced snake beans*
• Vegetable oil, for deep frying

Sweet chilli dipping sauce

• ½ cup Thai sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp finely chopped eschallots
• ¼ small cucumber, diced 
• 2 tsp crushed roasted peanuts

Instructions

1. Place the chopped fish, lime leaves, egg white, salt, sugar, and Thai red curry paste in the bowl of a food processor. Blend to a smooth paste. Transfer the paste to a large bowl. Add the sliced snake beans and mix with your hands. Use your hands to scoop up the mixture and slap it into the side of the bowl. This process helps to firm up the paste so the resulting fishcake is firm and bouncy.
2. Fill a large, deep pan or wok to about one-third capacity with vegetable oil and place over medium-high heat. Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F), or until a wooden spoon dipped into the oil produces lots of bubbles.
3. When the oil is hot, pinch off tablespoons of the fish mixture and carefully drop them into the oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towel.
4. For the sweet chilli dipping sauce, mix the sweet chilli sauce, finely chopped eschalots, diced cucumber, and crushed roasted peanuts in a bowl and set aside until ready to serve. Serve the fish cakes with the sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Note

If snake beans are unavailable, you can replace them with raw green beans.

Watch how to make this recipe on Episode 8 of Marion Grasby's Flavours Of Heart & Home streaming free on SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.