Fish cakes, pickled cucumber, birthday wishes

Do you have lots of kitchen appliances and gadgets? A tool for every occasion?

My birthday is coming up, and, as usual, I was thinking of asking the birthday fairy for an electric mixer (eg. white KitchenAid).  This thought has gone through my mind for, oh, the past 4 years or so. But the feeling soon passes - until Christmas. But then Santa doesn't hear my plea and I forget about it till the next year.

This time, as a backup plan, I'm also thinking about an ice cream maker (Cuisinart 1.5litre) and/or a food processor. The latter is a recent thing because my current processor is just a stick blender with a small bowl attachment, and after making these fish cakes, the lid has developed a hairline crack and some water has leaked into it and now it makes a sloshing sound when you shake it.

But then I think of my small, neat, open kitchen with limited bench and cupboard space and push the thought out of my mind. The birthday fairy is safe from having to leave appliances under my pillow for another year.

Fish Cakes with Pickled Cucumber

serves 2

Ingredients

400g firm, white-fleshed fish fillets

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 red chilli, seeded, finely chopped

2 spring (green) onions, finely chopped

1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways

Juice of 1 small lime

1 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs brown sugar

2 tbs vegetable oil

Steamed rice and lime wedges, to serve

Method

1. Process fish in a food processor until a coarse paste forms. Transfer to a large bowl. Add garlic, half the chopped chilli and spring onion, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Shape heaped tablespoonfuls of mixture into 'cakes'.

2. Using a teaspoon, remove seeds from cucumbers. Discard seeds then slice cucumbers thinly on the diagonal. Place cucumbers, remaining chilli, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook fish cakes, in batches, for 2 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Serve with pickled cucumber, steamed rice and lime wedges.

recipe adapted from taste.com.au

Ingredients, including white fish (I used basa fillets), spring onion, fish sauce, cucumber, chilli, lime juice and brown sugar

Scrape the seeds from the cucumber to make the sweetly refreshing pickle.

The fishcakes are fairly sticky, so use a spoon (rather than your hands) to scoop them into the pan. Let them brown on one side first, then flip them and flatten with a spatula to cook the other side.

Serve the fishcakes with the drained cucumbers and some rice.

Yum, these fishcakes have a firm texture and excellent flavour, only slightly spicy from the chilli.

Some ice cream would finish off the meal nicely. If only I had an ice cream maker....