Thai Chicken Cakes

This recipe uses lean minced chicken (who knew!) to create perfect Thai Chicken cakes. A fresh tasting dish that can be spiced up or down depending on your taste, but goes beautifully with a homemade dipping sauce or shop bought sweet chilli sauce. Serve with a fresh green salad for a sin-free meal.

Preparation time: less than 30 mins
Cooking time: approx 20 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 500g minced chicken
• 10g fresh ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 small onion
• 15g coriander
• ½ red or green chilli
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Vegetable oil to cook
• Lemon or lime zest

Method

1. Place the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and coriander into a food processor and whizz until blitzed.
2. Add the chicken and “pulse” the machine to get the chicken combined into the mixture.
3. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and lemon/lime zest. Take the chance to add seasoning at this point.
4. Heat the veg oil in a pan to a medium/high heat.
5. Now comes the fun part. Take spoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls in your hands – yes, it is a bit messy, but come on – it’s fun to get messy sometimes! Flatten the balls into cake shapes.
6.Place the cakes carefully into the pan, placing them away from you so as not to splash hot oil on yourself. Fry the cakes in the oil for 5 minutes, turning them over so both sides are golden brown.

Serve with a fresh green salad, and a dip is essential – my favourite is a cucumber, white wine (or cider) vinegar, chilli, ginger and coriander dip – or just some shop bought sweet chilli sauce does the job too.

Variations to the dish can see the cakes coated in Panko breadcrumbs, which will give a crunchier texture. The cakes could also have any of the following items added to give them more of a Thai flavour: lemon grass, chilli flakes, kaffir lime leaves and/or spring onion. Some of the best food in the world has come from experimentation with flavours, textures and spices; be bold! Go for it and expand your food knowledge.