Thai fish cakes

Recipe for fried fish cakes with cucumber relish - a popular Thai appetizer

These small fried fish cakes are a true treat and are now a popular starter in Southeast Asia, which is also offered in many street kitchens. You can serve them with a cucumber relish or a sweet-sour chilli sauce.

Ingredients (for about 12 pieces)

Fish balls:
300 g cod (fillet)
50 g green beans
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 egg
8 Kaffir lime leaves
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tblsp cornstarch
1 tsp raw cane sugar
1 tblsp fresh, chopped coriander
Oil for frying

Cucumber relish:
1 cucumber
4 shallots
1 garlic bulb
1 cm fresh ginger
50 g raw cane sugar
4 tblsp coconut or rice vinegar
4 tblsp water

Preparation

For the cucumber relish, add vinegar, water and sugar to a small saucepan and heat with constant stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Julienne the cucumber. Peel the shallots and cut into thin slices. Peel the ginger and chop finely. Separate the garlic bulb into cloves and chop finely. Mix with the ginger and place in a bowl. Add the cucumber sticks and shallots, pour over the cooled vinegar mixture, mix gently, cover and set aside.

Put 5 Kaffir lime leaves aside, cut the rest into thin strips. Clean the green beans and cut into thin slices.

Then add the fish pieces, curry paste and the egg into a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. Fill it in a bowl and mix with fish sauce, cornstarch, sugar, lime leaf strips, coriander and green beans. Form the mixture to 12 cakes.
In a wok or fryer, heat the oil to about 180°C (a bread dough tins in about 45 seconds). Fry the fishcakes in portions until they are uniformly browned (approx. 4 - 5 minutes). Keep warm until all are finished.

Garnish with remaining kaffir-lime leaves and serve with cucumber-relish.

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