Thai Fish Cakes (Tod Man Pla)
While there's a few steps to making his wonderful appetizer, they are all fairly simple. Use a lean white fleshed fish such as tilapia, hake, cod, pollock, catfish, sole, or flounder. If using frozen, make sure that it is fully defrosted and dried of any excess moisture. I really like the long beans added to this. It gives the fish cakes a nice crunch. Make sure when handling the paste that your hands and spoon are wet. This stuff will stick to everything since there isn't any flour or breadcrumbs coating the outside.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb. lean boneless skinless white fleshed fish (tilapia, cod, hake, catfish, pollock, sole, flounder)
- 3 tbsp red curry paste
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup long beans finely chopped
- 1/3 cup basil finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a food processor, add the fish, red curry paste, egg, sugar, and fish sauce.
- Blend until it is a fairly smooth paste. It should stick to the side of a spoon.
- Add the fish paste mixture to a bowl. Add the long beans and the basil. Mix together.
- Add the cooking oil to a skillet on medium high heat. Make sure that your hands and spoon are wet before touching the mixture. It is really sticky. Portion out the mixture into 8 meatball sized clumps. Flatten into a patty, about 1/2 an inch thick. Cook in 2 batches, 4 of the patties for 2 minutes on the first side.
- Flip to the other side and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Let rest on a paper towel. Serve with a Thai chili dipping sauce.
