Fish cakes - spicy with zesty citrus sauce

By grammadot

Prep: 30 minutes Chill: 1 hour Cook: 4-6 minutes per batch Makes: 8 cakes, 4 first-course servings
This Thai-inspired recipe is adapted from “The Flavour Principle” by Lucy Waverman and Beppi Crosariol. Use haddock, whiting, cod or any white firm-flesh fish (shrimp is another option) for these cakes, which may be deep-fried instead of pan-fried, if desired. The authors use this dish as a first course to an all-fish, all-Asian dinner menu, but you could serve it with a watercress salad for a light Lenten meal.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil Zesty citrus sauce, see recipe:
• 1 1 1 pound skinless haddock fillet
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 2 2 2 tablespoons each, chopped: lemon grass, cilantro
• 2 2 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 1 1 tablespoon each: fish sauce, Thai red curry paste
• 11/2 11/2 11/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 1 1 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 1 1 egg
• 1 1 1 cup thinly sliced long beans or green beans
• 1/2 1/2 cup

Preparation

Step 1

1 Cut fish into cubes. Place in a food processor or mini-chopper with green onions, lemon grass, cilantro, cornstarch, fish sauce, curry paste, lime zest and juice, sugar and egg. Pulse in short bursts until mixture is a smooth paste. Stir in long beans. Cover; refrigerate, 1 hour.

2 Roll mixture into 8 balls, a little more than 1/4 cup per ball. Press each ball flat to form a cake.

3 Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry cakes in batches until brown, 2-3 minutes per side. Add more oil to pan as needed. Drain cakes on paper towels.