Thai Fish Cakes

Tod Mun Pla (ทอดมันปลา), or Thai fish cake, is a Thai street food classic, the fragrant red curry fish cake you see piled high at hawker stalls in Bangkok and at Thai restaurants in the United States. Traditional versions get their famous springy bite from cooks beating the fish paste against a board with wooden sticks for half an hour, which is what gives the cakes their bouncy elastic texture against the teeth. At home I get the same thing with 2 minutes in a food processor and a couple of egg whites, which whip air into the paste the way the sticks would.

My version is adapted from Leela Punyaratabandhu’s Tod Mun Pla recipe at She Simmers and from Lucky Peach: 101 Easy Asian Recipes by Peter Meehan. Leela’s blog is where I go for any Thai recipe at home, and her trick of beating egg whites into the fish paste is what made these cakes work in my kitchen for the first time. I skipped the kaffir lime leaves I could not find at my local market, used the food processor for everything in one step, and started with whole fish fillets instead of pre-made paste so I never have to make an extra trip to the Asian market.

In just 30 minutes you can have this ready, simply pulse everything in the food processor until the paste turns sticky and bouncy, fold the sliced green beans in by hand, then heat half an inch of oil in a small deep pot and fry the cakes in batches. I recommend you to try the cakes at home with a Thai night in mind, my recipe below has every step from raw fish to the dipping sauce.

Ingredients

Below are all the ingredients you need to make this easy Thai Fish Cakes recipe.

Fish: I start with white fish fillet, cut into small pieces. I go for catfish first because the higher fat content gives me a richer, more tender cake, but I have also used cod, sea bass, tilapia, and flounder with good results. I choose the freshest fillets I can find at the counter, and I have made these with frozen fillets thawed overnight in the fridge with no loss of texture.

Red curry paste: I use a small jar of Thai red curry paste. The brands I keep in my pantry are Maesri and Mae Ploy from the Asian market, since both taste closer to a homemade paste than the supermarket brands.

Egg whites: I beat large egg whites into my fish paste during processing, which is what gives my cakes their famous springy bouncy texture.

Seasoning: I season the paste from the inside with fish sauce and sugar, so my cakes taste finished even before they meet the dipping sauce. When I am cooking for someone who does not like the smell of fish sauce, I swap in soy sauce and the cakes still taste good.

Green beans for texture: I fold thinly sliced green beans into my paste at the end, which is what gives the cakes their crunch and the tiny green flecks I love in the cross section. When I have Chinese long beans on hand, I use them the same way, and I have also used chopped scallions when green beans are out of season.

Frying oil: I shallow fry the cakes in vegetable oil in a small deep pot, which gives me a consistent golden crust without the cleanup of a full deep fry. When I want to skip the deep fry altogether, I switch to a large nonstick skillet with less oil and pan fry the cakes instead.

Dipping sauce: I make my dipping sauce from Thai sweet chili sauce, chopped seeded cucumber, roasted peanuts, fresh cilantro, and a splash of fish sauce stirred together right before serving.

How to Make

1. Build the fish paste: Add the cubed fish, red curry paste, egg whites, fish sauce, and sugar to a food processor. Pulse to combine, then run the machine for 2 minutes until the paste is smooth, thick, and sticky. Test by poking it with a spoon, it should spring back at you like a marshmallow, not slump.

2. Fold in the green beans: Transfer the paste to a large bowl and fold the sliced green beans through with a rubber spatula. Stop as soon as they are evenly distributed, since too much folding can deflate the air you whipped into the paste.

3. Heat the oil: Pour 1/2 inch of vegetable oil into a small deep pot and set it over medium heat. Test the oil with a tiny pinch of paste, which should sizzle on contact and float to the surface within a few seconds.

4. Scoop and flatten: Drop a 2-tablespoon ball of paste from a cookie scoop onto a spatula coated in oil. Use the back of a second spatula or a large spoon to press the ball into a 1/4-inch thick disc. The oiled spatula is what keeps the paste from sticking to your tools.

5. Fry the fish cakes: Tilt the oiled spatula and slide each cake into the hot oil one at a time. Work in batches of three at most so the oil temperature stays high and the cakes do not crowd each other. Fry the cakes until the bottom side turns golden, about 30 to 40 seconds. Flip them with a slotted spoon or chopsticks and cook the other side until it matches, another 30 seconds. The total fry time per cake is about a minute.

7. Drain and test doneness: Lift the cakes onto a wire rack or paper towel to drain. Poke one with a toothpick to test, the toothpick should come out clean and the cake should spring back when you tap it with your finger.

8. Mix the dipping sauce: Stir the Thai sweet chili sauce, chopped cucumber, roasted peanuts, minced cilantro, and a teaspoon of fish sauce together in a small bowl. Make this right before serving so the cucumber stays crisp.

9. Plate and serve: Stack the warm fish cakes on a plate with lime wedges and the bowl of dipping sauce on the side.

How to Serve

I usually put them on the table hot off the stove with the cucumber peanut dipping sauce in a small bowl in the center and lime wedges on the side. I usually plate 4 or 5 cakes per person on a small platter, and we grab them with chopsticks. They’re at their best during the first 10 minutes after frying.

For a family dinner that needs more on the table, I treat the fish cakes as the seafood centerpiece of a small Thai inspired meal. A plate of Thai basil chicken adds a fragrant protein next to the cakes, and a bowl of drunken noodles or Thai pineapple fried rice covers the starch in a way the rice cakes already love.

Frequently Ask Questions

Thai Fish Cakes (Tod Mun Pla)

By Maggie Zhu

4.84 from 6 votes

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 to 6 servings

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I love making this 40-minute Thai Fish Cakes recipe when I want an appetizer that is crispy, flavorful, and easy to put on the table. I prepare it with white fish blended with red curry paste, fish sauce, and egg whites, then fold in green beans before frying the cakes until golden brown. This is a great appetizer to serve with a quick sweet chili dipping sauce.

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

Fish Cake

• 1 pound white fish fillet , cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces (Footnote 1)
• 2.6 ounces red curry paste
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (or soy sauce if you don’t like fish sauce)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup thinly sliced green beans (*Footnote 2) (Optional)
• Vegetable oil for frying (*Footnote 3)
• Lime wedges , for serving

Dipping sauce

• 1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
• 1 Persian cucumber , seeded and small diced
• 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts , chopped
• 2 tablespoons cilantro , minced
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

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Instructions

• Fish cake:
• Combine the fish, curry paste, egg whites, fish sauce, and sugar in a food processor. Pulse a few times, to mix until it forms a smooth, thick, and sticky paste, 2 minutes or so. Once finished, poke the fish paste with a spoon. It should be firm, elastic, and springy. Transfer the fish paste into a big bowl.
• Fold the green beans into the paste using a spatula.
• Heat 1/2-inch oil in a small deep pot over medium heat until hot (*Footnote 4).
• Work on the fish cakes in batches. Use a cookie scoop to transfer a ball of 2 tablespoons of fish paste onto an oiled spatula. Then use the back of another spatula or a large spoon to flatten the ball into a 1/4-inch (1/2-cm) thick disc. Gently slide the fish cake into the pan. Fry until the bottom side turns golden, about 30 to 40 seconds. Flip and cook the other side until golden. The whole process should take about 1 minute. (*Footnote 5) To test doneness, transfer a fish cake onto a plate and poke it with a toothpick. You should feel the bouncy resistance and the toothpick should come out clean.
• Sauce
• Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl right before serving.
• Serve the hot fish cake with dipping sauce as an appetizer, or serve them on top of rice or noodles as a main. Enjoy!
• You can store the cooked fish cakes in the fridge for a couple days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. One note: do not refrigerate the uncooked fish paste. I did it once, and fried fish cakes made from day-old fish paste and it resulted in a tough and grainy texture. I had to put it back into the food processor and beat two more egg whites into it to get the texture fluffy again.

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Notes

1. Catfish, sea bass, cod and other types of white fish fillets will work. Try to find the freshest fillets possible. I prefer to use catfish to make this recipe, because the fish is fattier and creates a better texture.
2. Authentic fish cakes use thinly sliced green beans or Chinese long beans (string beans) to add texture. You can skip this, or add a handful of chopped green onion.
3. To create the best fish cakes that have a crispy golden crust and tender interior, you need to use a bit more oil, just enough to cover the fish cakes. But if you do not like frying, you can add just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. The surface of the fish cakes will turn darker but it will remain tasty.
4. I highly recommend using a small, deep pot if you plan to fry the fish cakes. You can cook the whole batch with about 1 cup of oil (or less). The fish cakes cook very quickly in the hot oil, so you won’t be able to work on more than three cakes at a time. Alternatively, you can use a large nonstick skillet and roast the fish cakes with less oil.
5. If your fish cake turns dark brown too fast, not leaving you enough time to work on shaping the next fish cake, reduce the heat to medium or medium low. If the fish cake takes too long to turn golden, increase heat slightly.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of the 6 servings, Calories: 308kcal, Carbohydrates: 21.8g, Protein: 16.3g, Fat: 16.5g, Saturated Fat: 3.9g, Cholesterol: 61mg, Sodium: 1053mg, Potassium: 371mg, Fiber: 1.5g, Sugar: 10.9g, Vitamin A: 15IU, Vitamin C: 9mg, Calcium: 4mg, Iron: 12mg

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The recipe was originally published in August 21, 2014 and updated in September 10, 2017. I completely changed the ingredients and cooking method. Please replace your old copy with this new version for much better results.