Budget Thai Fishcakes & Easy sweet chilli sauce

 A friend at the allotments was kind enough to bring me some more trout for the smoker. So after filleting and then curing for smoking, I took the bones, head and belly and popped them in a pot with some seasoning and water and made fish stock. After 20-30 minutes I strained the bones and allowed them to cool. Once cold enough to handle I sat and went through them removing the fish and putting it in the fridge till the next day. Turned out to be about 200g of fish so decided to make some fishcakes. 

When I was young fishcakes were a poor man's way of stretching out a little fish with a lot of potatoes. So I came up with this recipe combining the old and the new.

Ingredients

200g cooked fish

600g boiled potatoes, crushed and cooled

1 tbsp Thai curry paste (traditionally red but I only had green)

1/2 cup chopped chives, spring onion, leeks or onion

1 chia egg white (1 tbsp chia seeds and 3 tbsp water mixed and allowed to thicken) or 1 egg white

1 tbsp cornflour or arrowroot (I use arrowroot as it's much cheaper)

Season to taste and add 1 tsp chill flakes

Plain flour for dredging

Put everything in a mixing bowl and with a spatula or wooden spoon mix well to get a thick mixture.

Put in refrigerator to settle for an hour.

Put a large frying pan on a medium heat to warm up.

Take the mixture a tablespoon at a time and form into little patties. 

Once done add some oil to the pan and coat each fishcake in the flour then add to the pan.

Repeat till the pan is full but not overcrowded.

Wait till you see some good colour at the edges before turning carefully.

Continue to fry till the turned side has a nice golden colour then remove to drain on some kitchen paper.

Repeat the process till all the mixture is used up.

Serve on some rice or noodles with some sweet chilli sauce.

Easy sweet chilli sauce

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1-2 tsp chilli flakes

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1/2-1 tsp salt

A good splash of fish sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

2 tablespoons water

Instructions

Put everything in a small pot except the last 2 ingredients

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium and simmer until the mixture 

thickens up a bit, about 2-3 minutes.

Combine the cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and continue to 

simmer for one more minute. The cornstarch will help the sauce to thicken slightly.

Allow to cool completely before storing and refrigerate.