Thursday 1 September 2016

Bill Granger's Thai Fishcakes

On our beach walks in the morning with Abby the lab I can't resist picking up empty scallop shells which have been washed up on the sand . They make perfect  miniature individual serving dishes for Bill Granger's Thai fish cakes.

Served on a platter, with a bowl of creme fraiche (to which a dab of wasabi paste has been added) and thinly sliced cucumber briefly marinated in sushi vinegar, they make great finger food.

Ingredients:

500 gm of boneless, skinless firm white fish , roughly chopped (hoki will do)
3 tbsp of red curry paste (Vacom brand is the best )
1 tsp of white sugar
2 tbsp of fish sauce
6 kaffir lime leaves ( very finely sliced) or zest of 2 limes
60 gm of snake/green beans( very thinly sliced)
4 tbsp of light flavoured oil
cucumber relish ( see recipe below)

Method:

Blend the fish in a food processor until smooth, scraping the sides down once or twice. Add the curry paste and pulse with the sugar, fish sauce and lime leaves.

Scrape into a large bowl, add the snake beans and stir to combine. Take a handful of the mixture and throw against the side of the bowl to firm up the proteins, repeating a few time until the mixture is noticeably firmer.

With moistened hands, form slightly heaped  tablespoons of the mixture into discs. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat  and fry in batches until browned and cooked through. Drain on a paper towel and serve hot with the cucumber relish.

For those who like it hot you could have some some Hot Samoan Boys chilli sauce on hand as well.
Makes 24.

Bill 's Cucumber relish
1/2 cup of rice vinegar or white vinegar
1/2 cup pofcastor sugar
1 Lebanese cucumber , quartered lengthwise and finely sliced
1/2 tablespoon of finely julienned ginger
1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

Place the vinegar and sugar n a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and cool. Pour into a bowl, add the cucmber and chilli and stir to combine

My shortcut: Just finely slice 1/2 a telegraph cucumber and marinate it briefly in sushi vinegar. Optional: add some finely sliced red chili