I miss street food in Thailand so much I can’t even begin to explain it. After school, strolling around the streets and eat on the side of the road was nothing less than a lifestyle. I loved meatballs on skewers which were drenched in sticky sweet and spicy sauce, delightful mini crepes filled with coconuts or soft meringue, banana fritters and so much more— but one dish I had to have almost every day was papaya salad. I mean it. Everyday! Spicy and pungent, papaya salad was some sort of addiction. And maybe a form of torture I may say. Why? Because we always ordered it spicier than we could handle. Tough love! And I have to admit that I am a bit sadistic when it comes to spicy papaya salad.

To go with papaya salad, I ordered barbeque butterflied chicken with fat ran and dripped from the sticks, fermented rice noodle, sometimes it was grilled catfish or steamed prawns, or Pad Thai on the side. This may sound like a meal to you, but no it isn’t. This is an evening snack we usually have around 4 pm. Dinner would be at 7 or 8 when we strolled the night markets for a bowl of noodle and a lot more.

Last Friday, I made Satay Fish Cake to go with my sweet torture. I adapted the method of the traditional Thai fish cake but added satay flavor to it. So instead of red curry paste which is used in a regular Thai fish cake recipe, I used yellow curry paste.

And oh Lord, it was delicious. So aromatic and fresh.

I mixed shredded papaya and carrot for my salad. Make it super spicy and the boys still loved it. The dish went well together. Perfect! And make me felt nostalgic even more.

Satay Fish Cakes

Ingredients: (make 8 fish cakes)

200 gm king fish steak

1 tbsp Thai Yellow Curry Paste

2 kaffir lime leaves- finely sliced

2 tbsp coconut cream

A pinch of salt

2 tbsp oil for shallow frying

Preparation:

Discard the bones and skin from the fish and roughly chop. Add a pinch of salt, Thai Yellow Curry Paste, and chopped further until the mixture form a smooth paste. Make sure the curry paste mix well into the mixture. Add kaffir lime leaves and coconut cream, and mix well.

Wet your hands with water and take the mixture in your hands to form a small patty. Repeat the process to make 8 patties.

Heat a large frying pan over the medium heat and add oil. When the oil is hot, add fish patties. Fry them about 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove from the pan and serve hot.