Thai Fish Cakes with Cucumber Salad
Taud man pla (ทอดมันปลา) are eaten in many areas of Thailand, made with whatever fish is available. Here it's served with a cucumber salad (ตำแตง).
Servings 4
Ingredients
Fish cakes
- 250 g white fish fillets minced
- 3 tbsp red curry paste nam prik gaeng ped
- 2 tbsp fish sauce nam pla
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3 tbsp cornflour rice flour would be more authentic
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 6 kaffir lime leaves (bai ma-grood) or sweet basil leaves (bai horapa), very thinly sliced
- 750 ml oil for deep-frying
Salad
- 500 g cucumbers
- 6 garlic cloves kratiem, minced
- 3 green Thai chili peppers prik khee noo, chopped
- 6 tbsp tamarind juice ma-kaam piag
- 60 ml fish sauce nam pla
- 2 tbsp sugar preferably palm sugar
- 6 cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
Instructions
- Combine the fish with the next five ingredients in a food processor or mix thoroughly by hand. After the mixture is combined, continue to blend, adding the lime leaves. If using your hands, keep wetting them as you mix.
- Shape the mixture into 2.5 cm thick patties about 5 cm in diameter. Put them on a tray in the fridge until ready to fry.
- Peel the skin from the cucumbers, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cut into shreds the size of matchsticks.
- Mix together the remaining salad ingredients except the tomatoes, then mix with the cucumber shreds and tomatoes.
- Heat the oil to 160°C and deep-fry the fish cakes until light golden brown.
Notes
Thai fish cakes are often served with sweet chili sauce and some crushed peanuts on the side (according to ChatGPT). This AI also warns against using sweet basil instead of kaffir lime leaves.