Maluku Fish Cakes with Spiced Prawns

Name: Maluku Fish Cakes with Spiced Prawns
Yield: for 8 as a starter or 12-16 as canapés
Cuisine: Asia
Ingredients: 1 tsp brown sugar; 1 tbsp groundnut or sunflower oil; 1 tsp chopped lemon grass (soft inner part only); 1 tsp fish sauce (nam pla); 1 tsp chopped fresh galangal; ½ tsp salt; 450 g/ 1 lb skinless mackerel fillets; 16 large raw tiger prawns, tails on but shells and heads removed, deveined; 1 tsp cornflour dissolved in 1 tbsp water; white of 1 egg; flat-leaf parsley, mint or coriander leaves, to garnish (optional); groundnut or sunflower oil, for frying; fresh Tomato Sambal, to serve; 2 tsp cumin seeds, roasted then roughly crushed; 2–4 fresh or dried bird’s-eye chillies, chopped; 115 g/ 4 oz blanched almonds, chopped; 3 tsp coriander seeds, roasted then roughly crushed; 4 tbsp tamarind water; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 4 shallots, chopped; 2 tsp chopped ginger

Preparation info

for
8
as a starter

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

New Wave Asian

By Sri Owen

Published 2002

About

Maluku is the Indonesian name for the group of islands known in English as the Moluccas. There these fish cakes are traditionally made with mackerel and cooked until quite rubbery in texture, but here they are lightly cooked and more delicately spiced. My twist is to suggest that you serve them with spiced tiger prawns, the combination making a very appetizing starter.

The best way to cook these fish cakes is in a deep-fryer as, if this is done well and quickly in oil that is good a

Ingredients

Asia
Starter
Pescatarian
Spicy
Southeast Asia
Gluten-free

Ingredients

Method