Sesame crusted chilli and mint fish cakes with melon salsa. Photo / Babiche Martens
Sesame crusted chilli and mint fish cakes with melon salsa. Photo / Babiche Martens
Makes approximately 24
300g of the freshest fish you can find - I used ling, but gurnard, lemonfish and tarakihi all work well - roughly chopped 3 tsp chilli sauce 1 spring onion, chopped 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves 2 tsp fish sauce 2 tsp soy sauce 2 tsp fresh ginger, chopped 1 tsp caster sugar 1 egg 11/2 Tbs coconut cream Sesame seeds Peanut oil
Salsa 1 cup melon, finely diced 3 limes, zested and juiced 1 tsp salt 1 red chilli - optional 1 tsp caster sugar 1 tsp cider vinegar
1 To make the fish cakes, put the fish in a food processor with the chilli, onion, mint, fish and soy sauces, ginger, sugar, egg and coconut milk.
2 Pulse until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
3 Use a hot spoon to shape into small cakes. Cover a large plate with sesame seeds and coat each cake.
4 Heat a frypan and add enough peanut oil to just cover the surface. Cook the fish cakes over a medium heat until the seeds are golden on both sides, being careful not to let them burn. Drain on paper towels before serving with the salsa.
5 To make the salsa, combine all the ingredients and let sit for at least 30 minutes for the flavour to develop.
