Fish Cakes with Warm Herbed Rice Salad and Bok Choy Recipe

Fish Cakes with Warm Herbed Rice Salad and Bok Choy Recipe

This consists of three simple South East Asian inspired elements, fried fish cakes, a warm rice salad and wilted bok choy. The salad is inspired by a fragrant herbed rice dish I ate in Bali. The Thai style fish cakes are an eternal favourite.

• 600g skinned boned firm white fish

• 125ml coconut cream

• 2 cloves garlic chopped

• 5 tablespoons finely chopped ginger

• 1 egg white

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced

• Vegetable oil for frying

• 300g Jasmine rice, well rinsed and drained

• 500ml water

• 6 tablespoons fish sauce

• 6 tablespoons lime or lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 2 tablespoons grated or crushed palm sugar

• ½ cup each, coarsley chopped coriander and mint, plus extra leaves for serving

• ½ cup unsalted roasted peanuts

• 1 red chilli, thinly sliced

• ½ cup long strand dessicated coconut, toasted in a dry pan over moderate heat

• Zest of 1 lemon or lime

Put the fish, coconut cream, garlic, 2 tablespoons of the ginger, the egg white and the salt into a food processor and process until smooth.

Stir in the spring onion thoroughly.

With lightly oiled hands, form the mixture into 12 small cakes about 6cm in diameter and 2cm thick.

Place side by side on a plate and reserve.

Put the rice in a suacepan and add the 500ml water.

Bring to the boil over high heat.

Cover, move to your stove’s smallest element and turn the heat to the lowest setting.

Cook, without uncovering for any reason, for 20 minutes.

Put the fish sauce, juice, sesame oil and sugar into a bowl and mix until the sugar dissolves. This is the dressing. Reserve.

Heat about 1cm of vegetable oil in a frying pan over moderate heat and gently fry the fish cakes in batches until well browned on each side. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Bringanother saucepan with water about 10cm deep to the boil. Drop the bok choy into it.

Bring back to the boil and simmer 2-3 minutes or until well wilted.

Drain the bok choy well, and toss in the oyster sauce.

Remove the rice from the heat, uncover and fluff up with a fork but don’t mash the rice grains.

Place the rice in a warm bowl and add the dressing, the remaining ginger, the chopped herbs, peanuts, chilli, coconut and zest. Mix gently.

Serve the fish cakes with the rice salad and the bok choy and sprinkle extra coriander and mint on top.

Serves 4.