Donal's Real Time Recipes airs Wednesday nights at 8.30pm on RTÉ One. Catch up on RTÉ Player.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
Time: 30 minutes
- 450g skinless white fish fillets, such as haddock or cod
- a good handful of fresh coriander
- 1 red chilli
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
- 1 tbsp red curry paste
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 large egg
For the bowl
- 350g vermicelli rice noodles
- 1 head of butterhead lettuce
- 1 red onion
- 8 radishes
- 8 snacking cucumbers
- Big bunch coriander
- handful of mint leaves
- 1 lime
For the dressing
- 2 small Thai red chillies
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 40ml fish sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp chilli-garlic sauce
- juice of 1 lime
- 20ml water
Method
- Firstly, add the chopped chilli, garlic and ginger to the blender and blitz for a couple of seconds. Then add the fish in a food processor and blitz for 3 seconds or so until smooth. Now add the red curry paste, egg and fish sauce and blend again until smooth and well combined
- Place the vermicelli into a saucepan and cover with boiling water. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes then drain and rinse with cold water. Drizzle with a little sesame oil and set aside.
- Heat a little neutral oil in a large frying pan and fry the fishcakes in two batches for about 2 minutes on each side. Remove with a fish slice, sprinkle with a little salt and drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
- Whilst the fishcakes cook, make the dressing by finely chopping the chilli and garlic. Place into a bowl and add the sugar. Mix everything together then pour in the Thai fish sauce, light soy sauce, lime juice, chilli garlic sauce and water, if needed.
- Prep your vegetables for the salad - finely slice the red onion and radishes. Slice the snacking cucumbers and tear off the butterhead lettuce leaves. Roughly chop the coriander and slice the lime into wedges.
- To serve, divide the noodles between plates and add the vegetables and fishcakes. Drizzle with the dressing and garnish with the herbs and lime wedges.
