Prawn fishcakes （虾仁鱼饼）

 

Do you like to make your own fishcakes? Have you ever tried prawn fishcakes? This prawn and fishcake are crispy golden pops of seafood dressed with a tangy sweet slightly spicy kind of sauce and lot of fresh herbs.

This prawn fishcake is slightly different from the classic fishcakes. Let’s talk about the type of fish to use. My late mom used to use mackerel for making fish cake. I am using a snapper for this recipe. In fact, you can choose any kind of firm white fish. Or you can use salmon also.

To make the fish paste, my late mom used to scrape the fish meat with a metal spoon and chop it with the back of the knife until it turns to fine paste. I cut my fish fillet into a small chunk blend it with a food processor. How easy was that!!

You may use a food processor to blend the prawn paste, but I prefer to manually chop them to give my prawn paste a truly chunky texture with so, the fishcakes will pop a little of sweetness.

Kaffir lime leaves are the next ingredient and one of the main ingredients in this recipe. It gives the mild flavour of fresh lime. If you can't find these lime leaves where you live, you can use lime zest as a substitute.

You may be wondering why the colour of my fried prawn fishcake looks red. This is because my recipe contains with sambal belacan (Malaysian shrimp paste). This sambal belacan has all those wonderful flavors—lemongrass, garlic, and shallots. You can probably guess how flavorful the prawns and fishcakes are once they are fried. If you can't find this sambal belacan, you can use curry paste.

Those who have previously made fishcakes should be familiar with this step. You have to lift up the entire piece of fishcake mixture and smack it hard against the bowl several times to get a bouncy texture.

Let's gather all the ingredients and full instructions below to get started.  

 

INGREDIENTS

750g diced fish fillets (snapper)

250g peeled and deveined prawns

4-5 kaffir lime leaves

1 tbsp Sambal belacan

1 egg white

½ tsp sugar

2 tsp light soy sauce

2 tsp salt

Enough cooking for frying

Some diced cucumber for serving

 

Drizzle sauce

3 tbsp calamansi / lime juice

3 tbsp light soy sauce

3 tbsp sugar

1 long red chili, finely chopped

 

METHOD

1. In a food processor, pulse the snapper fillets until a paste forms and finely mince the prawn with a knife. Transfer the fish paste and minced prawn to a big mixing bowl.

2. Julienned and minced the kaffir lime leaves and add into the mixing bowl together with the sambal belacan, egg white, sugar, soy sauce and salt.

3. Mix and knead the mixture with your hands. Halfway through, lift the entire piece of fishcake and smack it hard against the bowl several times to remove the excess air and to get a bouncy texture.

4. Add enough cooking oil to a well heated deep bottom wok. Put some water on your palm, grip your fist, and grasp a handful of fishpaste. Using your thumb and index finger, create a hole and squeeze out the fish paste from that hole.

5. Carefully drop fishcakes into the oil one at a time. Keep the fishcakes evenly space apart, do not overcrowded the wok. Fry for 15 to 20 seconds until the fishcake firms up. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Turn it over and fry for another 3 to 4 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Remove and drain on paper towel.

6. To make the sauce, combine the all the ingredients in a bowl, stir well until sugar melts. Set it aside.

7. Pile the fishcakes onto a plate and scatter over the diced cucumbers. Drizzle the sauce on top and serve.