A little spice, a little coconut, a little ginger & kaffir lime – the flavours of Thailand & they are perfect for brightening up a healthy flavourful dinner. A few more of which are required as Summer is fast approaching. Spring is here & most of the office is kick starting Spring with some healthy living. Measurements are being taken & goals logged. There’s even a little healthy competition to keep everyone on track over the next few weeks.
Nadia Lim’s Good Food Cook Book has become a bit of a go to for me for fast, healthy, full of flavour dinners. These Thai salmon cakes are bursting with the flavours of Thailand; packed full of chilli, ginger, kaffir lime & coconut cream. I love them all, I add chilli to just about everything, like hit of ginger & love anything coconut; however for me it is the kaffir limes that add that quintessentially Thai flavour & burst of taste than nothing else comes even close to matching. Shiny & bright green there is nothing quite like their scent & taste. Just rub the leaves between your fingers & they release their aroma, intensely limey but so much more. Much more fragrant & much more pungent. Like lime on crack really.
These salmon cakes are quick to whip up & gave my new toy another work out. Pretty much everything gets thrown in to the food processor & then you roll them in to little patties & coat in panko bread crumbs for a golden crispy finish.
*Top tip for kaffir lime leaves...grab them when you see them & freeze them. Frozen kaffir lime leaves will keep anywhere from several months to a year in the freezer & even better you can use them right from frozen, no thawing required.
Thai Salmon Cakes with Basil Chilli Mayo, from Nadia Lim’s Good Food Cook Book
Serves 6 as canapé or make them larger & you have a few speedy dinners worth.
Ingredients
Salmon Cakes
450g salmon fillet, skin off, pin boned & cut in to cubes
¼ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground chilli
¼ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp brown sugar
2-3 kaffir lime leaves, central stem removed & very finely chopped
1.5cm piece of ginger, peeled & chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp coconut cream
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 red chilli, chopped
3 spring onion, chopped
Pinch of salt
1-1.5 cups panko bread crumbs
¼ cup rice bran or vegetable oil
Basil Chilli Mayo
1/3 cup mayo
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
20 basil leaves, finely chopped
To Serve
Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 lime, cut in to wedges
Directions
For the salmon cakes place all the ingredients except the panko crumbs & oil in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until just combined in to a thick paste. For canapés roll heaped teaspoons of the mixture in to balls & for lunches or dinners large tablespoons. Place the panko crumbs on a plate & roll the balls gently in the crumbs to coat well. Lightly flatten each ball in to a little patty & set aside until ready to fry.
Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan on a medium heat & cook the salmon cakes in batches for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden, crisp & cooked through. Add more oil as needed.
For the mayo just mix all the ingredients together.
For canapés top each salmon cake with a slice of cucumber & a dollop of mayo. For the larger cakes just serve with cucumber & mayo on the side. Scatter over chilli & serve with lime wedges.
*Even better these can by fried in advance & then just crisped up in the oven for a speedy supper.
For all things Russell Hobbs head over here.
And full disclosure my shiny new food processor was very generously given to me by Russell Hobbs.