Thai Fish Cakes with Coconut Curried Vegetables

There are quite a few advantageous of Fish Cakes. Firstly, they look like meatballs so you could trick your child who doesn't like fish to - at least - trying it (hopefully also liking it). Secondly – to make them you don’t need perfect fillets that you normally use for frying or roasting since you will have to chop the fish anyway. And thirdly – you have different options how to serve them: with a simple salad or – just like in my recipe – with broccoli and cauliflower in a curried coconut milk sauce, served with rice.

If you use my proportions of spices, you will end up with a not-too-hot dish but if you prefer it to be spicier or milder you can easily adjust the amounts. To make sure the whole batch of Fish Cakes is just the way you would like it to be, take a small portion of ready to fry fish mixture and fry a miniature test cake to check the seasoning. If it is not hot enough, add more spices. Since you can’t really make it less spicy at this stage, be careful not to add too much seasoning right at the beginning ;-)

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):

Fish cakes:

400g fillet of white fish, skinless and boneless,

0.5 lime (juice and grated rind),

2 tbsp thinly chopped coriander,

1.5 tsp Thai red curry paste,

2 tsp grated ginger,

1 egg white,

0.25 tsp salt.

1-2 tbsp rapeseed oil for frying.

Vegetables:

1 tbsp rapeseed oil,

1 tsp grated ginger,

2 garlic cloves, grated,

1.5 tsp Thai red curry paste,

0.5 cauliflower (350g), cut into small florets,

0.5 broccoli (200g), cut into small florets,

1 can (400ml) coconut milk,

1.5 tsp Demerara sugar,

1.5 tbsp fish sauce,

juice from 0.5 lime.

METHOD:

1. Put to the food processor all the ingredients for the fish cakes (except for the rapeseed oil) and process them till everything is combined. You have to make sure there are no bones in the fish!
2. Form 8 round cakes from the fish mixture; put them on a plate and leave in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
3. Heat the rapeseed oil in a big frying pan; put in the fish cakes and fry them on a medium heat for approx. 3 minutes on each side.
4. In another pan heat the rapeseed oil for the vegetables; add the ginger, garlic and chilli paste and fry till they release their aroma.
5. Add the vegetables, fry for 2 minutes stirring to coat them in spices.
6. Add the coconut milk, bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes, if you would like to have crunchy vegetables or a bit longer - for a softer version.
7. Serve with jasmine rice.

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Chicken Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Cashew Nuts

This is a very important dish for my family because it introduced my pretty-small-then daughters to the Chinese (or at least Chinese style) cuisine. The girls were very picky eaters and there was a very narrow variety of products they would be happy to eat. But - probably like majority of mothers - I tried to slowly introduce them to new ingredients. When finally they seemed to be ready, I made this stir-fry and they loved it (OK, I still had to pick out carrots from one of the portions but at least my daughter didn't mind that the carrots touched other ingredients so it was a great success after all!). The only complaint was about the small amount of cashews so from then on I always added more of them.

When I cook this dish nowadays, I add slightly more oyster sauce to it to give a more distinct flavour. So if you cook for older children or adults, you should put 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce instead of the 2 mentioned in the recipe below.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

2 tbsp wok oil,

500g chicken breasts (or thigh fillets), skinless, cut into bite –size pieces,

1 clove garlic, crushed,

1 leek (approx. 200g), thinly sliced,

1-2 carrots (approx. 150g), cut into julienne (matchsticks) strips,

250g broccoli, cut into small florets,

1 tsp cornflour,

125ml chicken stock,

2 tbsp oyster sauce,

100g roasted, unsalted cashew nuts.

METHOD:

1. Heat up 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok.
2. Add the chicken in 2-3 batches, stir-fry till cooked through and golden; put aside on a plate.
3. Heat up the rest of the oil in a wok, add the garlic, leek, carrots and broccoli; stir fry until the vegetables are cooked through but still crunchy; add the chicken.
4. Dissolve the cornflour in the stock, add to the wok together with the oyster sauce and cashews and cook till the sauce thickens.
5. Serve with cooked rice.

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Teriyaki Salmon with Broccoli and Rice Vermicelli

The below recipe wasn't even supposed to be on my blog. One day I was so busy that when it came to deciding about dinner, I felt as if I was going to cook for the first time in my life: my head was completely empty of any ideas. I checked what we had in the fridge and in the pantry and decided to play it by the ear, without having great expectations as to the final result.

I found salmon and broccoli, so some type of stir-fry seemed to be a workable solution. We only had rice vermicelli bought by my husband some time earlier and since I thought we all preferred thicker, ribbon-like rice noodles, I didn't really expect  a big applause from my family. But they loved the dish so much that they made me quickly write down the recipe while I still remembered it. And when I cooked it again to make sure the recipe was correct, my daughter came to the kitchen, looked into the wok and said “Oh, you are making my favourite dish!”. Considering it was only the second time I prepared it, I think it is the best recommendation you can ask for.

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

500g salmon fillet,

5 tbsp teriyaki marinade,

1 broccoli cut into small florets,

2 grated garlic cloves,

2 tsp grated ginger,

2 tbsp olive oil,

200g rice vermicelli,

3 tbsp soy sauce,

2 tbsp fish sauce,

1.5 limes (juice of half and the whole one cut into quarters).

METHOD:

1. Cut salmon into 3 cm cubes, put into a bowl with teriyaki marinade, mix well and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes (it can also be left overnight).
2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, fry the salmon cubes in 2-3 batches , stirring it gently (not to break it) from time to time for 2-3 minutes, put aside.
3. Prepare the rice vermicelli per packet instruction. Drain it.
4. Heat  1 tbsp olive oil in the frying pan, add garlic and ginger and fry stir for 30 seconds, add the broccoli, and continue to stir fry. You can also add a few tablespoons of water to the wok. This will create steam that will make the broccoli softer faster without burning.
5. When the broccoli is soft but still al dente, add the salmon cubes, fish and soy sauces, stir gently; add the vermicelli and lime juice, stir again. Serve with lime quarters.

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Thai Style Chicken Stir Fry with Broccoli and Snow Peas

I love stir fries. I love cooking them because when you have all ingredients ready, they only take minutes to finish which means you can freshly prepare the dish for your guests and they will not even notice you are not with them at the table. And I love eating them, as quick stir frying of vegetables keeps them crunchy and appealing because their colours stay vivid and bright.

This stir fry, like all the other ones, can be served with rice but I have recently started to use rice noodles more often. They are cooked in a very short time (some types don’t even have to be cooked but only soaked in boiling water) and taste almost like wheat pasta. And this is great information for people who either cannot eat wheat products, or – like me – try to keep their love for pasta under control.

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

500g chicken breasts,

1 tbsp lime juice,

1 tbsp olive oil,

1tsp honey,

0.25 tsp chilli flakes,

Salt and pepper,

1 broccoli cut,

250g snow peas,

2 cloves of garlic,

1 tbsp grated ginger,

3 tbsp lime juice,

5 tbsp sweet chilli sauce,

0.5 tbsp honey,

200g rice noodles,

1.5 tbsp olive oil.

METHOD:

1. Cut the chicken breasts into long strips.
2. In a bowl mix the marinade ingredients: 1tbsp olive oil, 1tbsp lime juice, 1tsp honey, chilli flakes and a bit of salt and pepper; put the chicken to the marinade and mix well to cover. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour.
3. Cut broccoli into small florets (the rest could be used in a vegetable soup), cut endings of snow peas and if possible remove strings.
4. Mix the lime juice and the sweet chilli sauce.
5. Heat 0.5 tbsp of olive oil in a wok, add marinated chicken and stir-fry till it is golden, place on a plate and keep in a warm place. To make sure the chicken is nice and crispy, divide it and fry it in two batches.
6. Cook the rice noodles per the packet instruction.
7. Heat the rest of the olive oil; add the garlic and ginger fry till they release their aroma.
8. Add broccoli, stir fry for 3 minutes, add the snow peas, stir fry for another 2 minutes.
9. Add the chicken and the mixed lime juice and chilli sauce, stir, add the cooked rice noodles and give it another stir.

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