Thai fish cakes
Spicy, fragrant fish cakes flavoured with red curry paste and kaffir lime, shallow-fried until golden and served with a quick sweet-chilli cucumber dip.
These Thai fish cakes (tod mun pla) are spicy, herbal and utterly moreish — perfect as party food or a relaxed midweek supper. Red curry paste and kaffir lime give the cakes their unmistakable fragrance while the quick cucumber dip cools and brightens each bite.
They’re quicker to make than they look: a short blitz in the food processor, a brief chill to firm them up, then a shallow fry for crisp edges and tender centres. Serve with lime wedges and extra coriander for a proper Thai finish.
Ingredients
- 600 g white fish fillets — skinless and boned (cod, haddock or pollock)
- 30 g red curry paste — about 2 tbsp
- 25 ml fish sauce — use a labelled gluten-free brand if required
- 30 g caster sugar — total for cakes and dipping sauce
- 1 egg — large
- 6 kaffir lime leaves — finely shredded (or use 1 tsp lime zest as substitute)
- 100 g green beans — very finely sliced
- 40 g rice flour — binds and keeps them gluten-free
- 200 ml vegetable oil — for shallow-frying
- 1 lime — zest and juice
- 1 red chilli — small, finely sliced
- 100 g cucumber — deseeded and finely diced
- 10 g fresh coriander — roughly chopped, for sauce and garnish
- 50 ml rice vinegar — for the dipping sauce
Equipment
- food processor
- kitchen scales
Instructions
Pat the fish fillets dry then cut into rough 3 cm chunks. Put the fish into a food processor with the red curry paste, 15 ml fish sauce (reserve the rest for the dipping sauce), half the caster sugar (15 g), the egg and the zest and 15 ml juice of the lime. Pulse until you have a sticky, slightly coarse paste — do not over-blend into a smooth purée.
Tip the fish paste into a large bowl. Fold in the shredded kaffir lime leaves, the very finely sliced green beans and the rice flour. Mix until the mixture is cohesive and holds when squeezed. Adjust with a little more rice flour if it feels too wet, a teaspoon at a time.
With wet hands, form the mixture into small patties about 6 cm in diameter and 1 cm thick; you should get roughly 16. Place the cakes on a plate and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
While the cakes chill, make the dipping sauce. In a small bowl combine the rice vinegar, the remaining caster sugar (15 g), the remaining fish sauce, the finely sliced red chilli, the diced cucumber and most of the chopped fresh coriander. Add the remaining lime juice to taste and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Test the seasoning by frying a teaspoon of the mixture: heat a small splash of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the test amount for about 1–2 minutes until golden. Adjust seasoning if needed.
Pour the vegetable oil into a frying pan until it reaches about 3 mm depth and heat to medium–high. Fry the chilled fish cakes in batches without overcrowding for 2–3 minutes each side, turning once, until deeply golden and cooked through. Total active frying time for all batches should be about 15 minutes.
Drain the cooked fish cakes on kitchen paper, sprinkle with the remaining chopped fresh coriander and serve hot with the cucumber dipping sauce.
Tips
- Pulse the fish briefly in the processor — over-blending turns them rubbery. Aim for a slightly coarse paste.
- Chill the formed cakes for at least 30 minutes so they hold their shape when frying.
- Fry in batches and don’t overcrowd the pan; that keeps the oil temperature steady and gives an even golden crust.
- If you don’t have kaffir lime leaves, use 1 tsp lime zest — it’s a good stand-in though slightly less floral.
- Make ahead: form and freeze raw, uncooked cakes on a baking tray until solid, then transfer to a bag. Fry from frozen adding a couple of minutes to the cooking time.
Substitutions
rice flour → plain flour, same quantity
Stays closekaffir lime leaves → lime zest, 1 tsp
Stays closewhite fish fillets → salmon fillet, same quantity
Noticeably differentred curry paste → Thai red curry paste with no added wheat, same quantity
Stays close
Nutrition
Per serving · estimated
- 330
- Calories
- 28 g
- Protein
- 18 g
- Carbs
- 16 g
- Fat
- 2 g
- Fibre
- 8 g
- Sugar
- 700 mg
- Sodium
FAQ
Can I make the cakes ahead of time?
Yes — form the cakes and chill for up to 24 hours, or freeze them on a tray until solid then transfer to a bag for up to 1 month. Cook from frozen and add a couple of minutes to the frying time.
How do I know when they are cooked through?
They should be deeply golden on both sides and feel springy. Cut one open — the centre should be opaque and flaky, not translucent.
Can I make these gluten-free?
As written these can be gluten-free if you use rice flour and check the labels on the fish sauce and red curry paste (some brands contain wheat).
My mixture is too wet — what should I do?
Add rice flour a teaspoon at a time until the mixture holds when squeezed, then chill before shaping. Chilling also reduces stickiness.
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