Fish Cakes #1

(click to enlarge)	Fish Cakes #1 Thailand - Tod Mun
	Makes: Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	20 cakes *** 1-1/2 hrs Yes	Delicious and popular. Experts say these cakes only come out right if made from the Featherback fish. Any other fish, not so good - but given the scarcity of Featherbacks in Des Moines, you might want to check out Fish Cakes #2.

1
1-1/2
1
4
4
a/r
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#
T

oz

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Featherback (1)
Red Curry Paste (2)
Egg
Long Beans (3)
Kaffir Lime Leaf (4)
Oil for Frying
-- Serve with
Cuke Sauce (5)

Prep

First catch your FEATHERBACK FISH (see Note-1) and scrape it for paste.
Make the CUCUMBER SAUCE (see Note-5).
Very thoroughly mush together the Fish Paste, Egg and Red Curry Paste until completely blended, uniform and very sticky. Mush it with your hands (which can take a while) or use a stand mixer with paddle blade (see Note-8).
Roll up KAFFIR LEAVES very tight and slice into fine threads. Discard the stems and cut the threads into shorter pieces. Cut the LONG BEANS thin crosswise. Work both into the fish paste until evenly distributed.

RUN

In a kadhai, wok or deep skillet heat Oil for deep frying to 350°F/175°C. (see Note-6).
With very wet hands form a few small pancakes from the fish paste, about 3/8 inch thick and about 2 inches across (see Note-6).
Slide them a few at a time into the oil and fry turning several times until lightly browned. They are done when they float high, the oil starts sizzle more, and they are very elastic when tapped. Scoop them out and drain on paper towels.
Serve warm or at room temperature with plenty of Cucumber Sauce. I find cutting them into slices for serving works quite well too (see Photos).

NOTES:

Featherback Fish:
The best way to catch this fish is as a frozen block of Featherback Fish Paste found in the freezer chests of a market serving a Southeast Asian community. It is otherwise a rather tedious fish to deal with. Weight is for scraped paste. For details see our Featherback page.
Red Curry Paste:
This is the most important Thai curry paste. It can be bought, but is much better made at home. Here's our recipe, Red Curry Paste. The 1-1/2 T will still be pretty mild, even using our recipe, so vary as you may desire.
Long Beans:
These are quite common now, but yes you can use regular round green beans, but maybe bump up to 2/3 cup. Long beans, of Asian origin, have a darker, sweeter flavor than green beans, which are of American origin. For details see our Long Beans page.
Kaffir Lime Leaf:
These come two to a stem, so for this recipe you'll need two stems. They are becoming more available both fresh and frozen in markets serving Southeast Asian communities. For details see our Kaffir Lime page.
Cucumber Sauce:
This sauce is considered essential with fish cakes. See our recipe Cucumber Sauce.
Technique:
These methods have made the job much easier for me.
- Mixing: I've seen times given from 5 minutes to 25 minutes by hand or 10 minutes by paddle mixer. More seems better so I use a stand mixer about 8 minutes with the paddle attachment. The result should be viscous, sticky and with a shiny appearance.
- Forming: I've found a base coat of oil on my hands before applying water is very helpful. Just massage an oil saturated paper towel, then a few seconds under running water.
- Forming: I lay out a sheet of parchment paper and oil it well. When I've formed a cake I shake it off my hand onto the paper and poke into shape.
- Transferring to oil. When the oil is up to temperature I use a thin, clean, dry stainless slotted turner. I dip it in the hot oil and then pick up cakes off the oiled paper and slip them into the oil. I then use a wooden turner to poke them around (the metal turner would become difficult to clean). Turning them over several times works best. I lift them out with a deep fry strainer and drain on paper towels. I then clean and dry the metal turner for the next batch,
- Oil: I use Olive Pomace, a very high temperature oil with no olive flavor. Originally these were probably made in lard, which is lower temperature but very fine indeed, but the AHA has scared people from using it, though it's far less dangerous than the trans fats they told us to use instead. Actually, its health profile is better than butter. For details see our Lard page.
- Frying: I find 1-1/2 inches of oil in the bottom of my kadhai is fine for 5 cakes at a time and that depth should be good for a wok as well. A skillet may get by with an inch, but that will still take more oil. I turn the heat off when I have removed a batch and don't turn it back on until the next batch is formed, but it takes only a couple minutes to get back to temperature.
- Texture: The cakes should be firm and quite elastic, a characteristic of Featherback. Other fish may produce cakes that are mushy or flaky.
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste

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Fish Cakes #1

Featherback Fish:

Red Curry Paste:

Long Beans:

Kaffir Lime Leaf:

Cucumber Sauce:

Technique: