Tod Man Kai: fried chicken cakes

I must post this right now because they look and taste so good. I have been making these instead of the fish cakes or Tod Man Pla because it's easier and the kind of fish we get in Thailand is not available here. Well, it is but it comes frozen and once thawed, they don't taste as good and the texture is far from delicious. Although, David Thomson suggested you can use cod to make these cakes in his Thai Food book. A friend told me about making these with chicken and I tried and it turned out so good. It's so tender, light and fluffy it doesn't taste like chicken. If no one told me, I would have thought these were fish cakes. You serve these with cucumber salad that is oh so refreshing. It's so easy to make, a little messy I must say. Here is the recipe.

Chicken Cakes (adapted from Fish Cakes)

8 oz ground chicken
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 egg
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
5 kaffir lime leaves, slice thinly
2 tbsp finely chopped green beans
oil for deep frying



combine chicken, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and egg in a bowl and mix really well. I find that mixing the eggs, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and chicken in food processor speeds up the process of throwing/slapping the mixture to the bowl. Gather the mixture into a ball and throw back to the side of the bowl (just pick up the mixture, slap the mixture back to the bowl). Big stainless steel bowl works best in this case. Continue slapping until the mixture is thicken and sticky. Mix in lime leaves and green beans. Make the mixture into small discs and deep fry. Serve with cucumber relish.

Cucumber relish

½ cup Cucumber slice (quartered lengthwise and slice)
1 whole Serrano pepper
1 Shallots
3 tbs White vinegar
3 tbs Sugar
4 tbs Water
Pinch of salt
1 tbs chopped cilantro

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Let the salad rest for 20 minutes.