Southern Vietnamese Fish Cakes

• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) Spanish mackerel, taylor fillet or red fish fillet

Blend the fish, spring onion, salt, pepper and garlic in a food processor until it forms a smooth paste. Scrape the fish paste out into a mortar, dip the pestle into the fish sauce, then pound the fish. Keep dipping the pestle into the fish sauce, then continue pounding and dipping until you have used all of the fish sauce and the fish doesn’t stick to the pestle. When the fish no longer sticks