Thai Fish Cakes

Fish Cakes can be so dull and boring. But THAI Fish Cakes are FABULOUS! A classic Thai street food and my favourite starter at Thai restaurants along with Chicken Satay.

Surprisingly easy to make at home – all you need is fish, red curry paste, egg, rice flour and fish sauce. Blitz, make patties and pan fry!

Thai fish cakes

If I order an appetiser at a Thai restaurant, 9 times out of 10 it will either be Thai Fish Cakes or Thai Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce.

And both of these are irritatingly pricey at Thai restaurants for what you get! $7 for 3 piddly little fish cakes or 3 teeny tiny skewers with a midget tub of peanut sauce.

Homemade is 80% cheaper – and just as good as takeout!

Thai Fish Cakes are (in my humble opinion) the most fabulous fish cakes in the world!

What Thai Fish Cakes taste like

The main flavouring in Thai Fish Cakes is red curry paste, so if you love Thai Red Curry, fish and food made to be eaten with hands, then this has got your name written all over it!

The unique thing about these fish cakes is the texture. It’s like Asian fish balls, kind of spongey. I know that sounds thoroughly unappetising, to say they are “spongey”, but there’s no other word I can think of! 😂

It’s not an unpleasant texture, it’s just different to other pattie shaped things like fritters and sausage patties!

What you need

The BEST Thai Red Curry Paste – Maesri

For recipes like this where you only need a few tablespoons of curry paste, I typically use store bought rather than homemade Red Curry Paste.

The best store bought Thai Red Curry Paste by a long shot is a brand called Maesri. This is also the brand I use for Thai Green Curry. Other brands tend to have less authentic flavour and are (usually) too sweet.

Sold in small cans for around $1.30 (it’s the cheapest!), it’s available in some Aussie large grocery stores (Coles, Woolies, Harris), Asian grocery stores and here is the cheapest one on Amazon US.

**Don’t worry if you can’t find Maesri. This recipe is still great even with mainstream curry pastes.**

How to make Thai Fish Cakes

• Place fish, red curry paste (homemade or store bought), cilantro/coriander, egg, lime juice and fish sauce in a food processor, whizz to mince;
• Mix in rice or cornflour (cornstarch) and green beans; and
• Form patties and cook.

Simple, right? Do you really need me to write out the whole recipe for you??? (Don’t worry, I did! I always do!)

A note on authenticity!

Thai Fish Cakes are a classic Thai street food that you’ll find all over Thailand, from Bangkok to the popular tourist islands like Pukhet and Koh Samui (I really need to go back soon, I miss Thailand!!).

Here are the 2 things I do differently to the real authentic Fish Cakes made in Thailand:

1. Inclusion of rice flour – Truly authentic recipes are made with fish paste which is starchy fish (yes there is such thing!) that has been fermented and is a pretty smooth paste. This is then beaten for ages (i.e. 30 minutes by hand!) to activate the starch and this is the secret to beautifully bouncy, spongey fish cakes. However, in Western countries, the same texture is achieved by starting with fish fillets, minced them and mixing in either rice flour or cornflour (cornstarch); and
2. I don’t deep fry! In both Thailand and restaurants, Thai Fish Cakes are deep fried. I really believe that very little compromise is made by pan frying instead of deep frying!

How to serve Thai Fish Cakes

A simple store bought bottle of Sweet Chilli Sauce serves well as a convenient version of the dipping sauces you get at Thai restaurants.

In terms of what to serve it with, Thai Fish Cakes are typically served as a starter at Thai restaurants.

To make a meal out of it, try these on the side:

• Steamed Jasmine rice, Thai Fried Rice or Coconut Rice
• Crunchy Asian Slaw on the side – great all rounder Asian salad that goes with all Asian foods
• Asian Sesame Dressing for any fresh salad or steamed vegetables

If you try these Fish Cakes, and I really hope you do, all it will take is one bite to be overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity. These really do taste just like what you get at Thai restaurants! – Nagi x

More Thai takeout favourites

• Pad Thai – truly just like takeout!
• Thai Red Curry
• Massaman Curry
• Thai Fish Cakes
• Thai Fried Rice
• Pad See Ew – Thai stir fried noodles
• Browse the Thai recipe collection

Watch how to make it

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Thai Fish Cakes

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 15 mins

Total: 25 mins

Appetizer

Thai

4.93 from 28 votes

Servings12

Tap or hover to scale

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Recipe video above. These taste JUST like the Thai Fish Cakes from your favourite Thai restaurant! They should be firm but bouncy, almost a spongey texture, well seasoned, golden brown and with lovely complex flavours from the red curry paste and other seasonings. 

Ingredients

• 1 lb / 500g white fish fillets , skinless and pin boned, cut into chunks (Note 1)
• 3 tbsp red curry paste (Note 2)
• 1 tbsp cilantro/coriander leaves , chopped
• 1 tbsp fish sauce (sub soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup (40g) rice flour (or cornstarch / corn flour)
• 6 green beans , finely sliced (optional, Note 3)
• 4 - 6 tbsp oil (vegetable, canola, sun flower)

To Serve

• Sweet chilli sauce
• Cilantro/coriander leaves
• Lime wedges

Instructions

• Place fish, red curry paste, cilantro/coriander, fish sauce, lime and egg in a food processor. Whizz until the fish is minced and it looks like a paste. (See video)
• Transfer to a bowl and stir through rice flour and green beans until flour is all incorporated. (Note 4)
• Measure 1/4 cup of mixture (I use an ice cream scoop - Note 5), form 1cm / 2/5" thick patties.
• Heat enough oil in skillet over medium high heat to cover the base (4 tbsp or so)
• Place in oil, cook 2 minutes until deep golden brown, then turn and cook the other side for 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towel lined plate. 
• Repeat with remaining mixture, adding more oil into the skillet if required.
• Serve with Sweet Chilli Sauce, garnished with cilantro/coriander leaves and lime wedges on the side.

Recipe Notes:

1. Fish - Most of the most common white fish fillets are great here, also works great with salmon and trout. 

Great for: Ling, Tilapia, Snapper, Barramundi, Silver Dory, John Dory, Basa, Hokki, Perch, Flathead, Monkfish

Avoid:

• super lean fish (swordfish, tuna)
• delicate fish (flounder, Dover sole)
• small whole fish like sardines or mackerel 

Frozen fish - thaw completely, pat dry then use per recipe.

2. Red Curry Paste - Typically for fish cakes, I just use store bought curry paste but you can also use homemade red curry paste but use double the quantity.

My favourite store brand is Maesri which I think tastes the most authentic and also super cheap, $1.25 a can. But any Thai Red Curry Paste will work fine (try to use an Asian brand, they are better!)

3. Beans - The sliced green beans are used in Thai Fish Cakes in Thailand but at restaurants here in Australia, I've seen it substituted with sliced shallots/scallions or omitted.

4. Stirring flour in - It's tempting to just add the rice flour into the food processor but blitzing too long can activate the starch too much which makes the paste gluey and you end up with really tough fish cakes. The length of blitzing time required differs from fish to fish. So I find it's much safer to stir it in at the end.

5. Ice cream scooper or cookie scooper with a lever to scoop the batter out cleanly are perfect for making these. The standard size is 1/4 cup.

6. Storage - Fridge for 3 days, reheat in the microwave. I've never tried freezing but see no reason why it would not freeze well once cooked, you can actually buy frozen fish cakes!

7. Nutrition per fish cake, assuming 12 fish cakes are made and 6 tbsp of oil is used.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 87gCalories: 121kcal (6%)Carbohydrates: 5.2g (2%)Protein: 9g (18%)Fat: 7.2g (11%)Saturated Fat: 1.3g (8%)Cholesterol: 34mg (11%)Sodium: 267mg (12%)Potassium: 69mg (2%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Vitamin A: 200IU (4%)Vitamin C: 5.8mg (7%)Calcium: 20mg (2%)Iron: 0.9mg (5%)

Keywords: Thai fish cakes

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

Originally published April 2016. Minor recipe updates to make cooking process easier, brand new video, photos, process shots and Life of Dozer update!

LIFE OF DOZER

Weekend Nana Naps often end with Dozer using ME as his pillow. It’s the wrong way round – I should be laying MY head on his fluffy, soft mass!! 😂

Flashback to when this recipe was originally published:

Snippet from Life As Dozer. He basically has 4 modes: playing, sleeping, eating food or hoping for food. He lives a hard, hard life, doesn’t he?

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