Really Good Thai Chicken Cakes

These Thai Chicken Cakes can be super-simple and quick to make, but if you can spend a few extra minutes in the kitchen, they're elevated to something quite special with a golden crunchy crumb coating. 

Serve with preferred accompaniments or make my simple salad.

INGREDIENTS for four, makes 12 medium sized cakes

CHICKEN CAKES
500gm chicken mince
25gm fresh coriander
2Tbsp Thai green curry paste Turban Chopsticks
2gm salt
1½Tbsp Krunchilli or ¼ tsp chilli flakes (optional)

CRUMBS
⅓ cup plain flour
2 x extra-large 59gm eggs
2 Tbsp milk
100gm panko breadcrumbs

SALAD SUGGESTION
Reserved leaves from coriander plants
125gm baby spinach leaves
2 x medium tomatoes
1 x large Lebanese cucumber
1 x sweetcorn
Lemon or lime wedges to squeeze

MAYO
100gm mayonnaise mixed with your preferred flavour – see notes for suggestions

METHOD

1. Place chicken mince on a few layers of absorbent paper to soak up any excess liquid.
2. Wash and dry coriander. Remove majority of leaves and set aside to use in salad. Finely chop stalks, roots and leaves to yield a couple of tablespoons. Place in large bowl with curry paste, salt and chilli if using. Add chicken and mix well.
3. Either measure the mix into 12 x 40gm portions or simply start rolling into desired size balls. Flatten slightly to form cakes and place on lightly oiled tray. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so to firm up before cooking.
4. Make salad. Toss reserved coriander leaves with spinach, tomato wedges, chunky cut cucumber and raw corn kernels. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
5. Cut lemon or lime into wedges and set aside.
6. If coating cakes, place flour in a shallow bowl, lightly beaten egg in another bowl and panko breadcrumbs in a third bowl. Working with 2 or 3 cakes at a time, place in flour and coat, shaking off any excess. Place into egg then allowing excess to drip off, place in bowl with crumbs. Re-shape into cakes if necessary.
7. Pre-heat oven to 160°C. Place large frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add olive oil and fry cakes in batches, so as not to overcrowd pan. Cook for about 3 minutes, adjusting heat accordingly so the crumbs become golden. Turn and cook on other side for a similar amount of time. Once cakes are springy to touch, remove from pan and place on absorbent paper in oven to keep warm while cooking remainder.
8. Mix chosen flavour into mayonnaise.
9. Serve warm chicken cakes with flavoured mayonnaise and salad.

COOKS NOTES

• Use shallow, wide cereal or pasta bowls to crumb chicken cakes, they can then be popped into the dishwasher rather than washed by hand.
• Use wet hands to roll cakes to prevent mix from sticking to you. Use one hand for flour and crumbs (dry) and one for egg (wet) to avoid too much mess.
• Mayonnaise – mix with lemon or lime juice, Sriracha, Krunchilli, or any other seasoning you like.
• Omit mayonnaise and dress salad with vinaigrette.
• I added some dill fronds to the salad as I had some on hand. Dill goes really well with coriander.