Niamh Shields burst onto the blogging scene in 2007 and has since snapped up countless accolades for her food writing by The Times, The Telegraph and The Stylist, to name a few. Niamh is passionate about cooking, and when she's not travelling the world collecting culinary tips, she's at home concocting new and interesting meals for friends and family, including her foody fledgling niece. Here, Niamh shares all her know-how for delicious and easy home-cooking.
Zingy Thai fish cakes
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Lovely little things, Thai fish cakes. Aromatic and fresh and zingy, I do love that word zingy, and I think I probably overuse it. But who doesn’t want their food to have some ZING?
This is my take on Thai fish cakes. Basically they are fish (usually white fish) blitzed to a paste with lots of thai aromatics, fish sauce and other lovely bits which are then shaped into balls or patties and fried. Delicious.
So, normally they are made with white fish, and if it is your fish of choice feel free to use it here – you could use pollock, coley, haddock or similar - but I use salmon and prawns instead. I love salmon and prawns and think the delicate flaky salmon works really nicely here, and the firm prawns hold it together once it is blitzed.
I haven’t used any spices and this recipe is kept relatively simple. I use coconut cream instead of coconut milk as the pattie is quite delicate. You can buy it in small tins, or you could buy coconut milk and spoon of the thicker portion from the top (don’t shake the tin though or you will mix it). I also use Worcester sauce to give them a little bit of oomph and depth. Fish sauce gives it a delicious savouriness.
To keep it fresh and – well, zingy! – I serve it with a lovely simple salad of cucumber, tomatoes, coriander and spring onions using only a squeeze of lime juice for a dressing. Give them a go, I am sure you will love them.
Preperation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the fish cakes
200g prawns, deveined with shell and head removed (easier just to buy them like this)
200g salmon, skin removed and all bones
3 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp Worcester sauce
coriander
1 red chilli
1 tbsp coconut cream
1 lime
groundnut oil or similar flavourless oil for frying
For the salad
200g tomatoes, chopped into dice (or halved if using small tomatoes)
half a cucumber, halved lengthways with the seeds scooped out with a teaspoon, sliced
handful of torn coriander leaves
juice of half a lime
Method
- Put all of the ingredients for the fish cakes into a blender and whizz until smooth. If your mixture is too fluid add some breadcrumbs to hold it together, although this shouldn’t be necessary.
- Shape tablespoons of the mixture into rounds and shape (they will be sticky so I just use a spoon to shape) and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Make your salad by combing all of the ingredients and adding a squeeze of lime.
- Fill a frying pan with oil until it is about an inch deep, and heat until a piece of bread sizzles immediately when you add it.
- Add the fish cakes, ensuring they have enough space, turning after a few minutes when they are nicely browned. They should only take about 2–3 minutes for each side.
- Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with the salad on the side.
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