Tod Man Pla Recipe: Oh So Tasty Thai Fish Cakes with Lime Leaves

By: Emma Kwee

Finger lickin' Tod Man Pla, By: Ari Purnama

These Thai fish cakes are so delectable that it’s almost impossible to keep your hands off them. The secret ingredient are the kaffir lime leaves, that give the patties a delicious fresh fragrance. Use fresh leaves and stick them in the freezer for future use.

You can add a simple sweet and sour chili sauce, but honestly it is not mandatory, as the fish cakes are flavorsome enough on their own.

Tod Man Pla are a great starter, finger licking finger food and irresistible midnight snack. They are also fairly easy to make and once you chopped all your ingredients, done within 10 minutes!

Tod Man Pla Recipe

Ingredients for 30 Tod Man Pla:

• 1 kg white fish filet (I use cod and/or panga/tilapia filets)
• 2 tablespoon red curry paste
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (Nam Pla in Thai)
• 400 grams of green beans (yardlong beans or normal green beans)
• 10 kaffir lime leaves
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

How to make Tod Man Pla

1. Mash or grind the fish filets to a paste. The aim is to make a sort of minced fish paste. You can use a blender or a grinder. Make sure the mixture is smooth. Add the egg to make it slightly runny.
2. Stack all the kaffir lime leaves and roll them up tightly. Slice the roll of leaves into very thin strips and then chop them up finely. Remove any stalks.
3. Chop the raw beans into ¼ cm pieces.
4. Add the fish paste, fish sauce, red curry paste and sugar and salt into a bowl and stir until the mixture becomes a paste. Then add the beans and the chopped up lime leaves and stir again.
5. Heat the oil in a pan. Form small flat patties and shallow or deep fry them a couple at a time. If golden brown on both sides, remove and drain or pat with paper towels to remove the oil.

Serve with a simple sweet chili sauce. What? You ate them all already? Told you so…