One of my favourite Asian cuisines has got to be Thai food. I love the complex flavours and freshness that really packs a punch! Thai fishcakes is a must have appetiser whenever I treat myself to lovely Thai meal at a restaurant. As a few of my family members are vegetarian, they can’t enjoy the fragrant, umami flavours of this dish and hence I made it a mission to create a vegetarian version of it- Thai Tofu cakes!

If you have been an avid reader of my recipes, you can tell I am a huge fan of tofu. It is such a versatile food, and nutritionally, dietitian-approved. Not only is it low in fat, but it is a good source of protein and calcium too. Tofu is a good replacement for heavy cream in both sweet and savoury recipes.

I have to admit I’m a really lazy cook, I try my best to use as few ingredients as possible. But with Thai food, you do need to grab that few extra items to bring about the classic flavours, but I can tell you, it’s so worth it. Kaffir lime leaves is such a distinctive Thai food ingredient. Due to its strong aroma, typically each recipe doesn’t require much of it. You can store unused leaves in the freezer and use them at a later date to reduce wastage. Frozen leaves are just as good as the fresh ones in terms of flavour and aroma!

For some variations, you can consider adding blended dry oats to the tofu cake mixture for a firmer texture. Oats adds extra fibre and contains beta-glucan which helps to lower ‘bad’ LDL and total cholesterol levels. Including a variety of different vegetables is another great way to change up this tasty dish. I recommend corn kernels or mashed pumpkin for extra sweetness, chopped spinach leaves for a nutrient boost of iron and folate or even some finely diced red chilli if you enjoy the heat.

Thai Tofu Cakes

Serves: 2                Time: 45 mins

Ingredients for tofu cakes:

• 2 large cloves garlic
• 1/2 small shallot
• 1/2 medium carrot
• 1 pack (300g) extra firm tofu
• 1 kaffir lime leaf
• 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 whole egg
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch

Ingredients for dipping sauce:

• 3 birds eye chilli
• 1/2 kaffir lime leaf
• A teaspoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon water
• Juice of 2 small limes

Preparation:

1. Slice tofu into 1 cm wide pieces, cover in tea/paper towels and gently press to squeeze out as much fluid as possible. Alternatively you can microwave tofu on high for 2 minutes and drain away the fluids
2. Finely grate the garlic, shallot and carrot
3. Finely slice kaffir lime leaf into flakes (here’s how you can do it in a video)
4. Mash tofu together with all the tofu cake ingredients until it forms a sticky paste
5. Form 6 small patties with your hands and set aside
6. Heat up a non stick pan with a thin coating of oil (you can choose to use an oil spray)
7. Panfry tofu cakes until golden brown on both sides, be careful when flipping them as they are quite soft
8. In a food processor or blender, blend up all the ingredients for the dipping sauce
9. Serve Thai tofu cakes hot with dipping sauce on the side

Nutritional Facts:

Per serving: 140 calories; 7g fat; 6g carbohydrates; 13 g protein

Carbohydrate Servings: 0.5