Thai fish cakes also known as tod man pla can. be eaten as an appetizer, a main course or even as street food.
They can be found under several names: tawd mun pla, tod mun pla, thot mun pla, thot man pla, or ปลา ปลา in Thai.
These little fish cakes are the kings of street food in Thailand.
Street food
The earliest traces of food prepared and cooked in the streets date back to the dawn of our civilization, about ten thousand years ago. The Greeks already described the Egyptian tradition from the port of Alexandria to fry and sell fish in the streets. This custom was later adopted in Greece.
From Greece, the custom came to the Roman world, enriching and transforming itself into innumerable variations. The excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii uncovered the well-preserved remains of several types of thermopolium, the ancestors of today’s “huts”. These were small kitchens with direct access to the street, used to sell all kinds of cooked food at the time, mainly barley, bean or chickpea soups. At the time, the poorer classes lived in houses that for the most part didn’t have food or a kitchen. The nearest thermopolium offered comforting food that was accessible to all budgets.
How to make tod man pla
To make the Thai small fish cakes, the fish is first mashed and then mixed with several ingredients such as the famous red curry paste, cilantro (including stems), fish sauce, kaffir lime, galangal root, egg to bind, and yardlong bean.
Yardlong bean is also known as long-podded cowpea, asparagus bean, pea bean, snake bean, or Chinese long bean. It is also known as bora or bodi in Asia. It is therefore a herbaceous climbing plant of the fabaceae family, cultivated as a vegetable plant for its edible pods and seeds. It is often planted with maize which serves as support because of its height.
The pale green cylindrical pods are remarkable for their length, up to a yard at maturity. These pods contain a dozen kidney-shaped seeds of varying color depending on the varieties, including pink, red, or black.
Tod man pla can be made with any firm flesh white fish including cod, ling or coley (pollock).
Tod Man Pla (Fish Cakes)
Ingredients
- 1½ lb firm flesh white fish filets (e.g. cod)
- 2 eggs , beaten
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tablespoon chopped galangal root
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro (leaves and stems)
- 2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
- 3 cloves garlic , chopped
- 2 shallots , chopped
- ½ lb yardlong beans (or green beans), finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon kaffir lime zest
- 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 8 dried peppers , crushed
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Grind the shallots, garlic, lemongrass, cilantro, galangal root, kaffir lime zest, crushed dry peppers, salt and shrimp paste until getting a thin, homogeneous paste.
- Mix the fish and the curry mixture in a blender.
- Add beaten eggs and fish sauce.
- Place the fish and beaten egg mixture in a large bowl. Add the chopped green beans and mix. Knead the mixture by hand for 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Grease your hands and shape round and flat fish cakes, using about a tablespoon of the mixture for each cake.
- Heat a large amount of oil in a frying pan.
- When the oil is hot, add the cakes and cook until golden. Place the fish cakes on paper towels.
- Serve them with cucumber salad and/or a bowl of white rice.
Vera is the “expert” of the 196 flavors’ duo. With over 30 years of experience in the kitchen, she is now sharing her skills as a private chef and cooking instructor.
Mary-Jane says
This website always surprises me, thank you for this recipe !