Coconut fish cakes
“These Javanese-style fish cakes are simple to prepare, easy to cook and packed with flavour. Any white-fleshed fish will work and, while we’ve gone for snapper, by all means substitute with what’s freshest, sustainable and well-priced at your fishmonger or supermarket. No chilli required here – just whip up a batch of cucumber pickles and you’re away!”
📷 Leanne Kitchen
MAKES APPROX 25
Prep time: 2O mins | Cook time: 35 mins
Cucumber pickles
60ml (¼ cup) clear rice vinegar*
2 tbsp boiling water
55g (¼ cup) caster sugar
1 red bird’s eye chillies, chopped
1 telegraph (long) cucumber, peeled and halved lengthways
Fish cakes
4 small red Asian shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 candlenuts, chopped*
1.5cm piece fresh galangal, chopped*
1 cm piece fresh ginger, chopped
800g boneless, skinless snapper, john dory or any other white-fleshed fish fillets, cut into 5 cm (2 in) pieces
1½ tsp caster sugar
200g (2 cups) fresh grated or thawed frozen grated coconut*
2 eggs, lightly beaten
150ml coconut milk
vegetable oil for deep-frying
* Available fresh or frozen from Asian supermarkets
To make the cucumber pickles, combine the rice vinegar, boiling water and sugar in a bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Cool. Add the chopped chilli.
Remove the seeds from the cucumber using a teaspoon, then thinly slice the cucumber diagonally. Add to the vinegar mixture and stand for 1 hour before serving. (See Note)
To make the fish cakes, combine the shallots, garlic, candlenuts, galangal and ginger in a food processor and process until a paste forms. Alternatively, use a mortar and pestle. Add the fish fillets and process until the mixture is smooth.
Transfer to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients, except the oil and pickles, and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat enough oil for deep-frying in a large wok until it reaches 170ºC (340ºF), or until a cube of bread turns golden in 20 seconds.
Using your hands, form 2 tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls then flatten into thick discs about 5–6 cm (2–2½ in) across.
Fry the fish cakes, in batches, for about 12 minutes, turning once, or until deep golden and cooked through. Take care when cooking as the cakes are delicate. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain any excess oil then serve them hot with the cucumber pickles.
Cook's Notes - this recipe uses Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml.
This is an edited extract from East: Culinary Adventures in Southeast Asia by Leanne Kitchen and Antony Suvalko (Published by Hardie Grant).
