South-east Asian Pot Luck Part 2 - Spicy Thai Fish Cakes with Sweet Chilli Dipping Sauce

As well as the chicken satay, I also made some spicy thai fish cakes for the recent pot luck dinner I hosted. This recipe came from Radio New Zealand of all places, but the recipe is actually one of Annabel Langbein's. I like this one because it has fresh fish and the ingredients list doesn't feature anything too wacky.

1 spring onion
1 red chilli
Zest of a lime or a lemon
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger - or if you're a bit lazy like me, use the jar stuff
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1/4 cup coconut cream - I used coconut milk as I had it left over from the peanut sauce and whilst it still worked, I think coconut cream would have given them a slightly better texture.
1 egg white
500g boneless fresh white fish - I used cod

Put all ingredients into the food processor except the fish and blend to a fine paste. You could also use a hand blender if you don't have a processor. Add half the fish and blend again until smooth. Chop up the rest of the fish and mix it in by hand to keep the mixture a bit chunky. Make into balls around the size of walnuts and flatten into patties. The recipe said to barbeque or grill them, but I just fried them in a little oil on the stove. Cook the patties for about 2 minutes each side until they feel bouncy when you touch them and are slightly browned. I put them on some paper towels once cooked, just to soak up a bit of the excess oil. You can make these ahead of time and reheat in a hot oven for 4-5 minutes, however I think it's better to make them ahead of time, put them in the fridge and then cook them fresh right before you're ready to eat them. Serve with a sweet chilli dipping sauce, simply made by combining the following:


1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Juice of 1 lime - or lime juice if the real thing is too pricey
2 tablespoons of chopped coriander

These fish cakes are really fresh tasting with the fish, coconut ginger and lime flavours. Not blending all the fish also gives them a great texture.

I'm pretty lucky to have some awesome friends who also happen to be excellent cooks and always made an effort for these sort of nights. Check out the spread below!

South-east Asian Pot Luck Part 1 - Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

I've mentioned in a previous post that some girlfriends and I like to get together every few months and have a pot luck dinner. We choose a different type of cuisine each time, and it almost certainly involves a lot of wine, as well as an amazing array of food. I hosted at my place this time and even though we did a Japanese theme last time, we settled on south-east Asian this time. I decided to make a couple of things suitable for entrees/pre-dinner snacking - chicken satay with peanut sauce and spicy thai fish cakes with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.

I did a bit of digging around the interwebs before I found some recipes I was happy with. Serious Eats yielded the recipe for the chicken satay and the peanut sauce was courtesy of the Nigella website. I'll tell you all about the spicy thai fish cakes in part two. 

For the chicken satay you need:

1 stalk lemongrass, roughly chopped - or use pre-prepared from the jar, like I did, if you can't get it fresh.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil - I use canola

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon of lime juice - fresh is ideal if limes aren't crazy expensive

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

2 medium cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon ground tumeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon Sriracha (or another hot chilli sauce)

About 450g of boneless chicken breast - you could also use thigh

Bamboo skewers (this made about 15)

Put everything but the chicken (and skewers, duh) into the blender and whiz on high speed until smooth. Slice the chicken into strips lengthwise, about 1/2 an inch thick. Put the chicken into a large resealable plastic bag, pour the marinade in and give it a squish around. Leave it in the fridge to marinade for at least 1-2 hours, but the longer the better. While the chicken is marinading, soak the skewers in water so they don't burn under the grill. Once the chicken has marinaded, thread the chicken onto the skewers and place on a baking tray, either non-stick, greased, or lined with foil. Grill under a high heat - but not too close to the element. They will take around 15-20 mins to cook, and make sure you turn them half way through. Don't overcook them - the problem with using chicken breast is that it can dry out. You can make the peanut sauce ahead of time, while the chicken is marinading, and reheat later if you like, as I did, but I think it's best fresh.

1 can coconut milk

2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1 small red chilli, finely chopped - leave out one or both types of chilli if you'd rather have it milder

1 small onion, finely chopped - I used a shallot

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tablespoon of peanut oil - I just used regular canola oil

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the garlic, onion and chilli over a medium heat until the onion is soft - but don't let it brown. Add the sugar and stir until slightly caramelised. Add the soy sauce and peanut butter and stir through. Add a little coconut milk at a time until you get the consistency you want.

These are really tasty - a great depth of flavour from the marinade with a hint of spice, and with the creamy nuttiness of the peanut sauce, they make a great snack at a party or entree before a main meal.

Next time - spicy thai fish cakes with a sweet chilli dipping sauce!

Pork Gyoza

Some girlfriends and I have been doing somewhat-regular themed pot luck dinners for a little while - and by somewhat regular I mean three in about a year. The first one we did was Spanish theme, the second Turkish and the latest one was Japenese. I'm pretty lucky to know a bunch of awesome cooks and everyone puts in a lot of effort for these sort of evenings to make something original and delicious, that everyone will enjoy. We always have way too much food. And probably way too much wine, but that's another story,

I chose to make gyoza (Japanese dumplings) and a cucumber salad. I've never made gyoza before, but I love to eat them when I eat at Japanese restaurants.

What I like about this recipe is that it's easy to find all the ingredients - you do need to get the gow gee wrappers, but I just went to an Asian supermarket and asked for dumpling wrappers. I still have no idea what gow gee wrappers are and whether that's what I got or not.

Pork Gyoza

400g lean pork mince
1 cup finely shredded cabbage
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3cm piece ginger, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
30 gow gee wrappers
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
sliced spring onions to serve

For the dipping sauce:

1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Put the mince, cabbage (I shredded mine using the food processor to get it really fine), sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger and garlic in a bowl and combine, I found it was easiest to just use my hands. I didn't do it this time, but I think the addition of some fresh herbs, like coriander, chives or parsley would be really good. Lay out a few wrappers on the bench about put about 1 heaped teaspoon of mince mixture in the middle of each wrapper. Brush the edges with a some water and folded them over and pressed the edges together. Super easy!

I cooked them when I got to the dinner venue, so they'd be nice and fresh. Heat half the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. I turned the heat down to medium and fry as many as you can fit in the pan for a couple of minutes until the bottoms are nice and crispy. Then add half a cup of hot water and put a lid on and let the dumplings cook for about 4-5 minutes. Add more water if you need to, but I found it was pretty much the right amount and had almost completely evaporated by the time they were cooked. When they're ready, just scoop them out and pop them on a plate.

For the dipping sauce, combine the teriyaki sauce with the sesame oil and give it a stir, and then slice the spring onion over the top and you're ready for delicious Japanese noms.

The gyoza together, The more yellowy ones are the prawn gyoza
my friend made ingeniously with wonton wrappers when she couldn't
get dumpling wrappers

The cucumber salad never eventuated because I forgot - I took all the ingredients with me but didn't put it together - whoops.

In case you were interested, also at the dinner (there were 7 of us) we had sushi, prawn gyoza, a crunchy salad with beef, salmon fillets with a wasabi mayonnaise, karaage (basically deep fried chicken) and a really amazing green tea cheesecake. Everything was so delicious and I'm already looking forward to the next time. Any suggestions on a theme?