Thai-Style Fish Cakes with Spicy Dipping Sauce

A very popular street food from Thailand! This recipe is inspired by two culinary travelers from the BBC show The Hairy Biker’s Asian Adventure. The original uses halibut, but you can easily substitute cod or another firm white fish.

Ingredients

For the Fish Cakes:

• 500 g halibut fillet, cut into small cubes

• 1 tbsp fish sauce

• 1 tsp Thai red curry paste

• 1 kaffir lime leaf, finely chopped

• 1 thumb-sized piece of galangal, peeled and finely chopped*

• 1 stalk lemongrass, peeled and finely chopped

• 1 sprig coriander with root and leaves, finely chopped

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp grated palm sugar (or any sugar)

• 50 g green beans or French beans, thinly sliced

• Juice of half a lime

• Plain flour for coating

• Peanut oil for frying

For the Sauce:

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 2 tbsp clear honey

• 2 tbsp water

• Juice of half a lime

• 1 tbsp fish sauce

• 100 g cucumber, peeled, deseeded, and diced

• 50 g carrot, peeled and finely diced

• 1 shallot, finely chopped

• 2 bird’s eye chilies, deseeded and finely chopped

To Serve:

• Lettuce leaves

Instructions

1. Prepare the Fish Cakes:
   Place all fish cake ingredients in a food processor and blend until fairly smooth. The mixture will be slightly loose. With wet hands, shape walnut-sized balls, flatten slightly, and coat well in flour. The cakes will hold together when frying. Chill in the fridge until ready to cook.

2. Prepare the Sauce:
   In a bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, honey, water, lime juice, and fish sauce. Stir in the cucumber, carrot, shallot, and bird’s eye chilies. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

3. Cook the Fish Cakes:
   Heat a generous amount of peanut oil in a deep pan or wok (about 2 cm high). Fry a few cakes at a time on each side until golden and cooked through.

4. Serve:
   Arrange lettuce leaves on a plate and serve the fish cakes with the spicy dipping sauce on the side.

*Galangal is a type of Thai ginger. You can substitute with regular ginger, which has a somewhat similar flavor.

These Thai-style fish cakes are flavorful, aromatic, and perfect as a snack or appetizer with a zesty dipping sauce.