Thailand Tod Man Pla
Popular in Thailand and one of the most prominent appetizers on Thai restaurants' menus, tod man pla is a traditional dish that remains incredibly popular in modern Thai cuisine. Customarily made in Thailand with the freshwater fish pla grai, most modern recipes call for the use of fish paste due to the general unavailability of pla grai around the world. Recipe Servings: Serves 3
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Total Time
30 minutes
Vegetarian
Vegan
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Kosher
Halal
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 12 oz (340 g) fish paste
- 4 oz (113 g) green beans
- 3 kaffir lime leaves
- 1/2 Tbsp (7.5 ml) salt
- 1 Tbsp (15 ml) sugar
- 1 Tbsp (15 ml) red curry paste
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) cooking oil, for frying
Directions
- Place kaffir lime leaves in a stack and roll them tightly. Slice the roll of leaves thinly, to create very thin strips of leaves.
- Slice green beans into short cross-sectional pieces (not lengthwise) so they are approximately 1/8" (3 mm) thick.
- In a medium bowl, mix the egg, fish paste, salt, sugar, and red curry paste together. Stir until the mixture becomes a paste with a smooth and shiny consistency. This can either be done by hand or with an electric mixer, but will be quicker with a mixer.
- Add kaffir lime leaves and green beans and stir again to incorporate them evenly.
- Pour oil into a flat-bottomed pan and heat the pan on medium heat. Test the temperature of the oil by dropping a small piece of fish paste mixture in; the oil is ready when the fish paste puffs around the edges.
- When the oil is hot enough, drop a tablespoonful of fish paste into the pan. When the pan side has cooked to a rich brown, use a spatula to flip the fish cake to the other side. Press down with the spatula to flatten. If necessary, flip again to get both sides equally browned.
- Drain or pat with paper towels to remove the oil.
- Repeat the process for the rest of the fish paste mixture.
- Serve hot with traditional Thai cucumber relish.
Copyright © 1993—2024 World Trade Press. All rights reserved.