Cloudy Prawn, Ginger and Sesame cakes

An elbow- watching, palm-clapping, enthusiastic high five to Food and Home magazine for a grand February issue. I don’t know when last I bought one, (I ignored them for a while because a flashy macaroon front cover recipe I sweated over didn’t work) but this one was worth it. Totally. The styling and photography is much improved except for a few photoshop hiccoughs. I feel that some thought really into went into this. And always one to appreciate a bit of serious foodthought, I thought I’d tell you why I like it:

There’s interesting niche stuff (chocolate focus,) the books, restaurant reviews, competitions and usual. But also some really thoughtful tidbits like useful salad dressings, a food market insight, recipes from movies (I’m going to make Uma Thurman’s pretty fucking good milkshake, from Pulp Fiction, soon) and a zoom in on seasonal produce. It also helps that they published an extract from the fantastic- looking Savour  cookbook by Hirschowitz, Alsfine and Sacharowitz that I have been eyeing out for a while. 

I tried out the Prawn and ginger fishcakes on page 62 for dinner. I adapted it rather a bit, as I do; but the foundation is theirs and it’s GREAT.

Prawn, Ginger and Sesame cakes

·      300g cooked prawns, deveined, shelled and chopped

·      300g mashed potatoes (about 3 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed) 

·      ½ red onion, sliced

·      1 small spring onion, sliced

·      1 small red chilli, deseeded and sliced into small cubes

·      about 3cm fresh ginger, finely grated

·      juice and zest of 1 lime (optional)

·      juice of ½ a lemon

·      handful of fresh coriander, chopped

·      2 handfuls crunchy cereal like Special K, crumbled (just squish in your hand)

·      salt and white pepper

·      Sesame oil for frying, or grapeseed if you don’t have

·      White sesame seeds

1.     In a bowl, mix the prawsn, mash, onions, chilli, chilli, ginger, coriander and cereal together with a spoon or fork. Season to taste.

2.     Shape into round balls then flatten to make cylinders, trying to get their edges nice. Pop in the freezer for 10 minutes or so then roll in the sesame seeds in a plate, or pat them on gently. Freeze for another 20 minutes or so. (This helps them keep together while cooking)

3.     Heat the sesame oil until hot, and fry the cakes for a few minutes until browned on either side. Eat quickly.

I served them with a dribble of sweet chilli syrup: Make a basic sugar syrup by dissolving a half cup sugar in a half cup of water along with a squeeze of lemon juice. Whisk until dissolved over low- medium heat then allow to boil down and reduce for about 5 minutes over a higher heat. Seed and finely chop one red chilli and add that to the syrup. Cook for a minute or two before removing. Don’t serve piping hot.

Mouths burnt with hot sugar will miss out on the tongue- twisting cloudy prawn cakes.