All About the Veg! is a biweekly recipe column where Best of Vegan contributor Seiran Sinjari breaks down one amazing plant at a time. In today’s column, she explores the potential of soybeans, namely, in the form of tofu. Her Thai-inspired vegan fishcakes are an excellent example of how miraculously versatile this ingredient can be. Bonus: there’s a vegan Nam Jim Seafood (น้ำจิ้มซีฟู้ด) / Thai Seafood Dipping Sauce recipe included!
Today’s recipe is all about the hidden veg we have here, namely soybeans in the form of tofu, subsequently transformed into “fish” cakes.
Tofu making is centuries old and originated in East Asia. Today, the bean curd blocks are staples in East and Southeast Asian cuisines, vegan cuisine, and my own kitchen for many reasons. It’s an excellent source of protein, and it soaks up flavor like nothing else. In addition, it comes in so many different varieties, silken, soft, firm, extra firm, etc., making it suitable for a whole range of different kinds of dishes.
Today’s recipe is made with extra firm tofu that has also been pressed to reduce its water content, making it even firmer. This is just one of many methods to achieve different textures when cooking with tofu.
As mentioned, tofu will soak up any seasonings you add, and as we want some “fishy” flavor for our vegan fish cakes, we’re going to add some vegan fish sauce and crumbled nori sheet (seaweed sheet) to the marinade. Together with the red curry paste, this makes an excellent marinade for Thai-inspired vegan fish cakes. Vegan fish sauce can be substituted with light soy sauce; you’ll still get some “fishy” flavors from the seaweed.
I’ve added corn to the recipe for texture and sweetness, also inspired by these amazing corn fritters I used to have at my favorite Thai restaurant growing up, but traditional Thai fish cakes typically don’t include corn. This is like a vegan combination of two dishes I really enjoyed as a non-vegan.
For the dipping sauce, I like to make a vegan version of Nam Jim Seafood (น้ำจิ้มซีฟู้ด) / Thai Seafood Dipping Sauce. The only substitution I make is to use vegan fish sauce instead of regular fish sauce. Again, light soy sauce works great too. This dipping sauce can be used for so many other dishes as well; it has the perfect balance of spicy, savory, tangy, and of course, very garlicky!
Ingredients
For Vegan Fish & Corn Cakes:
- 200 g extra firm tofu pressed for 2-4 hours or overnight, drained & grated or crumbled
- 1 ½ - 2 tbsp vegan red curry paste more or less to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 - 1 ½ tbsp vegan fish sauce or light soy sauce more or less to taste
- ½ nori sheet finely crumbled
- 3 kaffir lime leaves stems removed and very finely sliced
- 2 cooked waxy potatoes riced or mashed
- 100 g canned sweet corn
- 4 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp water
- salt to taste if needed
- oil for frying
- optional: bread crumbs for coating
For Vegan Nam Jim Seafood / Thai Seafood Dipping Sauce:
- 4 Thai chilies more or less to taste
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 4 coriander roots with some of the stems
- 1 ½ tsp chopped palm sugar or other sugar of preference
- 2 limes juiced
- 2 tbsp vegan fish sauce or light soy sauce more or less to taste
- water if needed to dilute
Instructions
- In the meantime, prepare the dipping sauce. Pound chilies and garlic into a paste with mortar and pestle, add coriander roots and palm sugar, pound until everything is mixed together and the sugar has dissolved. Mix in the vegan fish sauce (or soy sauce) and lime juice, adjust to taste, and dilute with some water if needed. You can also prepare the sauce by mixing all ingredients in a blender.
- Remove tofu from the fridge, add kaffir lime leaves, potatoes, corn, and flour. Mix/knead with hands and add 1 tbsp of water at a time until you have a shapeable dough that holds together yet is a bit sticky. Adjust with more flour and water as needed as all flours are different.
- Shape the mixture into small cakes with your hands. If using bread crumbs, coat them well in the bread crumbs.
- Cover the bottom of a pan with oil and heat over medium heat. Carefully drop in the cakes and fry over medium heat until golden brown and crispy on both sides. Try to press in corn kernels on the surface of the cakes to avoid them from bursting when frying; be careful when frying them.
- Let excess oil drip off and serve with the dipping sauce.
Notes
Recipe, text, and photography by Seiran Sinjari.
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