Fried Thai Prawn Cakes (Tod Mun Goong) with Sweet Chilli Dip

Thai Prawn Cakes with Sweet Chilli Dip

We have been eating fried prawn cakes at the Thai restaurant in our compound that cost a good 10 euros for 4 pieces which considering that we are in China seemed a lot of money. Hub had a guest over for dinner last night and wanted me to cook a Thai meal. I thought hard about what to make for the aperitif and finally decided to try making a few Fried Thai Prawn Cakes with Sweet Chilli Dip.

I bought 500g of good-quality frozen prawns for 50rmb. That yielded 10 prawn cakes. Moral of the story : prawn cakes are expensive to make.

I have been extremely busy as 6 members of my family came over to Shanghai 2 weeks ago. Only my parents are still staying with me now, but we have to prepare for our short trip to Jiangmen in a few days and there are still many odds and ends to tie up before we leave. The weather had also been extremely bad, it rained almost every day since they were here.

We now have a bathroom that has had its floor ripped up to be water-proofed and a toilet is waiting for a new paint job once they have part of the roof repaired. Not funny when you had 11 people under your roof and needed all the bathrooms you could come up with.

Thai Prawn Cakes :

500g raw prawns

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp sugar

juice of half a lime

white of 1 small egg

1 tbsp corn starch

panko breadcrumbs

oil for deep frying

Sweet Chilli Dip :

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp fish sauce

50ml white rice vinegar

100g sugar

2 garlic cloves

1 large fresh red chilli

Peel and devein the prawns. Add salt, pepper, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, egg white and corn starch and mix into a rough paste using an electric mixer. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Pound the garlic and chilli till you get a rough paste, add it to the water, fish sauce, sugar and vinegar in a small pot and simmer/stir till you get a syrupy sauce. Set aside to cool.

Heat up enough oil for deep frying in a frying pan. Fill a shallow dish with panko breadcrumbs. Scoop up a tablespoonful of the prawn paste and drop it onto the breadcrumbs. Coat it thoroughly and shape it with your hands if necessary. Gently lower the prawn cake into the hot oil and fry till golden brown and crispy.

Serve hot with fresh cucumbers and the sweet chilli dip.