Thai fish cakes with cucumber relish

To make the fishcakes, remove the tough veins from the Kaffir lime leaves and chop the leaves very finely with a knife. Add them to the bowl of a food processor with the rest of the ingredients (fish sauce, curry paste, egg, lime juice, sugar and coriander), except for the fresh fish and blend to a wet paste. Now add the fish and blitz for a further 30 seconds until well combined.

It is a good idea at this stage to fry off a little of the mixture in a frying pan and taste to see if you are happy with the flavour or if you need to add a little more lime juice, fish sauce or sugar. If you are happy with the flavour, remove the mixture from the bowl and refrigerate for approximately one hour to firm up.

Once it is firm, shape the mixture into small flat patties about 2cm thick and 5cm in diameter. You will find the mixture quite sticky, but if you wet your hands it’s easier to work with. Store the patties in the fridge until you are ready to fry them.

To make the cucumber relish: Slice the cucumber very finely in long strips, ideally on a box grater or with a vegetable peeler, and then transfer to a medium-sized serving bowl. Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and water in a small pot and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the shallots, ginger, garlic, chilli and salt. Allow to cool, then pour the cooled dressing over the cucumber.

To cook the fishcakes: Heat about 2cm sunflower or vegetable oil in a frying pan and, once hot, shallow fry the fishcakes for about two minutes on each side or until cooked through. You will need to fry them off in at least two batches, depending on the size of your pan. Once cooked, drain them on kitchen paper and keep warm in the oven. Serve the fish cakes with the cucumber relish.