Thai Fish Cakes with Dipping Sauce

My year of posting our suppers is drawing to a close and thanks to all those who have viewed (37,552 on google plus and 9k on blogger), I'm blown away.  I'm indulging myself for this last post and sharing a starter, as it's too good to leave out. These classic spicy fish cakes are great as a starter, snack or a hot nibble to have with drinks. They can be lovely alternative to meat at a BBQ too.
Oh! A new blog starts soon. 

Ingredients

500g white fish fillets, pollack, cod or haddock

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons cornflour

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 teaspoons red curry paste

1 teaspoon chopped red chilli

2 tablespoons roughly chopped coriander leaves

1 kaffir lime leaf, very finely chopped

10 green beans, trimmed and cut into rings

2 spring onions, chopped

Salt

Vegetable or sunflower oil, for pan-frying

For the dipping sauce:

1 tablespoon sugar, palm sugar if you have it

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 small cucumber, diced

1 small carrot, very finely sliced

2 long red chillies, finely sliced

1 teaspoon finely chopped coriander leaves

Or 

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp clear honey

½ lime, juice only

1 tbsp Thai fish sauce

100g cucumber, skinned, cored and diced

50g carrot, finely diced

1 shallot, finely diced

2 birds’-eye chillies, seeds removed, sliced thinly

Method

Chop the fish into 2cm pieces, place in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the egg, cornflour, fish sauce, curry paste, chilli and coriander and process until combined.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the beans and spring onion. Mix well and season with a little salt. Form the mixture into small fish cakes using a spoon or wet hands. Place on a tray lined with baking paper and flatten slightly. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To make the dipping sauce, dissolve the sugar in two tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice, soy, diced cucumber, carrot, chilli and coriander.

Pour the oil into a large frying pan to a depth of about 5mm and place over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the fish cakes for about two to three minutes each side or until golden brown, turning once. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with the dipping sauce.

Adapted from, The Really Useful Cookbook by David Herbert.