Thai Style Chicken PattiesOctober 13, 2005 When spring arrives it's good to leave the winter comfort food behind and move on to lighter meals with a bit of palate tickling zing. I think we are fortunate living Down Under where Asian influences blend happily with our own fresh produce. With the ingredients so readily available, there's no hardship involved in locating the varius distinctive flavours that make up Asian cuisine. Today's dish takes its cue from Thailand. Kaffir lime leaves are a must-have for Thai cooking. I'm lucky enough to have them growing in the garden in my new home here in Melbourne but they are just as easily picked from the shelves of Asian ingredients at the supermarket produce section. You can store the purchased leaves in a zipper bag in your freezer and just remove them as required. They grow in pairs, top-and-tail style. For some Thai dishes, crushing and bruising the leaves is sufficient. However, in this dish they need to be chopped minutely with a sharp knife so the flavour is distrbuted through the dish and no one ends up with a mouthful of leaf. The flavour is reasonably aggressive and two leaves is sufficient for a wonderful aromatic background. Thai style chicken patties
Place the mince in a large bowl. Chop the spring onions into 50mm slices. Top and tail the beans and slice into 50mm slices. Add to the chicken with the crushed garlic and ginger. To crush the ginger, peel a chunk then push it through the garlic press. Julienne the kaffir lime leaves then chop them very finely to about ground pepper size. Add to the mince with the fish sauce and chilli. Stir all with a fork to combine very well. Form into balls then push down into patties about 2-3cm in diameter. Roll in flour. Shallow fry in vegetable oil about four minutes on each side - or till the chicken is cooked. Sprinkle the finished chicken cakes with fresh basil leaves and serve with salad.
|
750g minced chickenEmail | ©2008 Churchill Communications