Caxton magazines staffBorn and bred on a sheep farm in the heartland of the Karoo, Sonja De Beer of Sonja’s Foods (sonjasfoods.co.za) believes that a great meal starts with quality ingredients
INGREDIENTS
For the fish cakes:
- 600g cooked white fish (such as hake fillets or Cape whiting)
- 5–10ml Thai red curry paste
- 1 egg
- ½ cup cake flour
- 2 small bunches of chives, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed or 10ml crushed garlic
- 3 sprigs of coriander, finely chopped
- 15ml fresh ginger, grated
- 2 fresh lime or lemon leaves, finely sliced
- 100g fresh, young green beans, finely sliced
- sunflower oil, for frying
- fresh coriander and nasturtiums, to serve
For the cucumber relish:
- 60ml rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 60ml water
- 80ml sugar
- ½ cucumber, cut in small chunks
- 4 chives, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno chilli, chopped (optional)
METHOD
To make the fish cakes:
1. Place the fish, curry paste, egg, cake flour, chives, garlic, coriander and ginger in a food processor and pulse until just combined. Stir in the lime leaves and the beans.
2. Form the mixture into balls, about the size of golf balls and flatten. Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and fry the fish cakes for about 2–3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and leave to cool on kitchen towel.
3. To serve, garnish the fish cakes with fresh coriander and nasturtiums and serve with bowls of cucumber relish.
To make the cucumber relish:
1. Heat the vinegar, water and sugar until dissolved. Allow to cool.
2. Add the cucumber, chives and chilli.
This recipe makes 24 fish cakes.
