Asian fish cakes with Vietnamese dipping sauce
Ready in 15 minutes Makes 18
250g boneless, skinless
white fish fillets
1 egg
Zest of 1 lime, finely
grated
2 Tbsp chopped
coriander leaves 1 Tbsp Thai red curry paste, or more to taste 2 tsp fish sauce 1 tsp soft brown sugar A little neutral oil, to fry Microgreens or small salad
leaves, to garnish
VIETNAMESE DIPPING SAUCE (makes 1½ cups)
1 long red chilli, very finely sliced Zest of 1 lime, finely grated
½ cup water
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup rice vinegar
TO SERVE
3 Tbsp deseeded and very finely
chopped cucumber
1 Tbsp chopped coriander
leaves
To make the dipping sauce, place all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Combine fish, egg, lime zest, coriander, curry paste, fish sauce and sugar in a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times to a coarse paste. Do not overprocess, you want some texture to the fish cakes.
Heat a little oil in a heavybased frying pan and, working in batches, shallow-fry tablespoons of the mixture over a medium heat until springy to the touch and cooked through (about 2 minutes each side). They can be made a few hours in advance, chilled until needed and reheated in an 180C oven for 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature garnished with microgreens or small salad leaves and accompanied by dipping sauce.
Match this with ... Zeffer Slack Ma Girdle Cider 2021 ($30 ltr)
It’s a rare Thai meal where I wouldn’t eat more fish cakes than are sensible. Traditionally I’d sling back a beer or a glass of gewurz, but that’s all changed since my girdle got slacked. Using a blend of more than 50 cider-specific apples including Mother-in-law, Bisquet, Kingston Black, C’huero Ru Bein and its namesake, this vintage reserve cider was wild-fermented for five weeks in old wine barrels then aged for six months on its lees to develop its deep amber colour, baked apple and roast stonefruit scent and beautifully dry, chewy mid-palate. It’s perfect with chilli, ginger, coriander and all manner of spicy morsels. zeffer.co.nz