Thai Fish & Prawn Cakes with Asian Salad

INGREDIENTS

For the fish cakes:
1 kg white fleshed fish, chopped roughly
300gm green prawns, shelled
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 level teaspoons of Mae Ploy Thai green curry paste
25ml sweet soy
2 small eggs, beaten
20g palm sugar, chopped finely
1/2 cup green beans, chopped finely
(snake beans if you can find them)
Zest of 2 limes
1 cob of corn, kernels sliced finely
1/2 bunch coriander, chopped roughly
4 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying
For the salad:
1 small wombok cabbage
or cos lettuce, sliced finely
2 cups bean shoots
1 large carrot, julienned finely
1 Lebanese cucumber, julienned finely
1 small red onion, sliced finely
1/2 bunch of coriander leaves
3 sprigs of Thai basil leaves
4 Vietnamese mint leaves, torn
1/2 cup of roasted, salted cashews, crushed roughly
The dressing:
100ml Megachef fish sauce
200ml water
100ml rice vinegar
100ml lime juice
60g palm sugar, chopped
2 red chili, seeds removed & chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 knob of ginger, grated finely

METHOD

Step 1

To make the fish cakes:
Place all the ingredients except the corn, coriander and oil in a food processor and pulse or whizz for
10-20 seconds until combined. The consistency needs to remain lumpy, not mushy. Add the corn and coriander and pulse for another 5 seconds..

Step 2

Form the mixture into flat cakes – similar to pikelets. To prevent sticking, baste a little oil on your palm when you make the cakes.

Step 3

To cook, heat a frying pan to medium, pour in the oil and shallow fry the cakes for 5 minutes or until golden brown, flip the cakes and fry the other side for 3 minutes then drain on absorbent paper.

Step 4

To make the dressing:
Place the fish sauce, water, rice vinegar, lime juice and palm sugar in a saucepan, bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes to dissolve the sugar, remove from the heat and refrigerate to cool.

Step 5

Place the chili, garlic and ginger in a blender with 1/2 cup water and whizz until completely blended.

Step 6

Add to the cold
vinegar/ fish sauce liquid, stir thoroughly then refrigerate until required. The sauce lasts several weeks in the fridge.

Step 7

For the salad:
Combine all ingredients gently and pour on the desired amount of dressing just before serving.