Name: Fish cakes with vegetables
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 450g firm white-fleshed fish such as cod or hoki; 1 egg white; 2 tsp cornflour; 1 spring onion finely chopped; 1cm/½in fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped; 200ml/7fl oz peanut or vegetable oil, for frying; 8 dried cloud ear mushrooms (worth looking for, otherwise use dried shiitake); 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic; 1cm/½in fresh ginger peeled and finely sliced; 1 small onion cut into wedges; 1 courgette sliced into irregular chunks; half a cucumber sliced into irregular chunks; 1 onion squash, peeled and sliced into irregular chunks (optional); 3 tbsp chicken stock or water; 3 tbsp oyster sauce; 2 tsp light soy sauce; 1 tsp golden caster sugar; 1 tbsp rice wine; 125ml chicken stock; 1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tsp water

450g firm white-fleshed fish such as cod
or hoki
1 egg white
2 tsp cornflour
1 spring onion
finely chopped
1cm/½in fresh ginger
peeled and finely chopped
200ml/7fl oz peanut
or vegetable oil, for frying

For the vegetables

8 dried cloud ear mushrooms
(worth looking for, otherwise use dried shiitake)
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1cm/½in fresh ginger
peeled and finely sliced
1 small onion
cut into wedges
1 courgette
sliced into irregular chunks
half a cucumber
sliced into irregular chunks
1 onion
squash, peeled and sliced into irregular chunks (optional)
3 tbsp chicken stock
or water

For the sauce

3 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp golden caster sugar
1 tbsp rice wine
125ml chicken stock
1 tsp cornflour
mixed with 1 tsp water

Method

step 1
Remove any skin from the fish fillets and then cut them into small pieces. Combine all the fish cake ingredients, except for the oil, in a food processor with 1 tsp of salt and 2 tbsp of water and blend the mixture until it’s a firm paste.
step 2
Form the paste into two cakes, about 1cm thick. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and fry each cake for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and leave to drain and cool on paper towels.
step 3
While the fish cakes are cooling, soak the mushrooms in warm water for about 20 minutes until soft. Rinse well in cold water, drain, and set aside. When the fish cakes are cool, slice them into finger thick bite-size pieces.
step 4
Tip the oil out of the wok, leaving about 11⁄2 tbsp. Reheat the wok over a medium heat, add the garlic, ginger and onion wedges and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the courgette, cucumber, squash (if using), mushrooms and chicken stock and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Mix the sauce ingredients together then pour into the stir fry and continue to cook for another 2 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Return the fish cake pieces to the pan and mix gently to heat through. Serve at once with boiled rice.