Thai fishcakes with spicy peanut sauce

I think we can all agree that some things were birthed strictly as sauce vessels. I like steak, but I really eat it for the A.1. Sauce. Is that wrong? Sometimes a sauce is just *that* good – this is one of them. The pan-fried fishcakes are flavourfuI little buggers, with a ton of fresh herbs and a nice pop of crunch from the green beans, but the sauce is the dip of little spicy sweet coconut peanut angels.

Thai Fishcakes with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Serves 4

Active Time / 30 min

Total Time / 30 min

INGREDIENTS

For the spicy peanut sauce

• 85 ml full-fat coconut milk, shaken
• 120 g chunky peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
• Juice of 2 medium limes
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh hot chilli, or to taste
• 5 teaspoons light brown sugar

For the fishcakes

• 450 g skinless fish fillet, such as snapper or cod, cut into large chunks
• Finely grated zest of ½ lime
• 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste (buy it)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 25 g fresh coriander leaves
• 25 g fresh basil leaves 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small shallots, chopped
• ½ small jalapeño
• 1 egg
• 6 tablespoons cornflour
• 6 green beans, trimmed and very thinly sliced crosswise into circles
• Vegetable oil, for shallow-frying
• Fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

METHOD

Make the spicy peanut sauce

In a small saucepan, combine the coconut milk, peanut butter, lime zest, lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, chilli, and brown sugar. Melt, stirring, over medium heat. Remove from the heat, transfer to a serving bowl, and let cool.

Make the fishcakes

In a food processor, combine the fish, lime zest, curry paste, salt, coriander, basil, garlic, shallots, jalapeño, egg and cornflour and pulse until everything is very finely minced but not totallllllly pasty, 20 to 25 pulses. Open the processor, sprinkle in the green beans, and pulse 5 more times to mix in evenly.

Using wet hands, form 3 to 4 tablespoons of the fishcake mixture into a ball and flatten it to about 5-mm thickness. Form the rest of the cakes this way.

In a large frying pan, heat 5 mm vegetable oil over medium-high heat until shimmering-hot but not smoking. Working in batches, arrange as many cakes as you can fit comfortably in the pan and fry until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Serve the fishcakes with the sauce and garnish with coriander.