Thai Fish Cakes or Tod Mun Pla

Directions

1. A picture is worth a thousand words so it would be helpful to familiarise yourself with the technique of “scraping” the flesh of the fish as shown in the images above, as this is an important part of getting the texture right.
2. Using the edge of a spoon scrape the flesh away from the skin of the fish.
3. Put the fish scrapings in the bowl along with the sea salt and knead to a paste. I prefer to do this by hand using disposable gloves but you can also do it with a spatula or wooden spoon. The key is to allow the mixture to thicken and get sticky which normally takes about five minutes.
4. Add the curry paste, the eggs, and the cornflour. Stir these through the mixture until they are completely blended and leave to stand whilst chopping the Kaffir LIme leaves (if using) and green beans. The technique for cutting the lime leaves finely is shown in the images above and is called a chiffonade.
5. Combine these with the fish mixture stirring to make sure the mixture is firmly blended and then store in the fridge for two or more hours. Whilst the fridge is not an essential step it does make the mixture easier to handle.
6. Form the fish cake mixture into round discs about 5 to 7 cm in diameter. This is easier to do if you keep your hands moistened with a little water.
7. Heat enough vegetable oil to cover fishcakes in a small pan or wok and cook in small batches for a few minutes turning once.