METHOD
1. To make the fishcakes, place the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, spring onions, chilies and coriander in a food processor or blender and whiz to a smooth paste. Add the fish, fish sauce, salt, lime zest and juice, palm sugar and egg and pulse to combine: don’t blitz it too smoothly but make sure there are no large chunks of fish. Transfer to a bowl and chill for at least an hour.
2. In the meantime make the dipping sauce: stir the sugar into the vinegar until dissolved and add the soy sauce, groundnut oil and grated ginger. Chop the cucumber, carrot, chili and peanuts very finely; if using a food processor, make sure it doesn’t turn everything into a pulp. Stir the vegetables into the bowl with the dressing.
3. To shape the fishcakes, prepare a shallow plate with the panko mix. Scoop a tablespoon of the mix at a time and put into the breadcrumbs dish; it will be very sticky so it could be tricky to shape the cakes with your hands. Turn each fishcake around in the panko to coat it, flatten to a patty and place on a clean plate. You can chill them again at this point if you’re not frying them immediately.
4. Otherwise, preheat a large skillet or frying pan with 2 tbsp. of groundnut oil. If you’re going to fry them in batches, place a baking tray in a warm oven (80C). Prepare another dish lined with scrunched up kitchen towels to drain the fishcakes.
5. When the oil is shimmering, fry the fishcakes for about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Transfer each batch to the paper towels to drain, and then into the oven to keep warm until you finish frying them all. Serve with the dipping sauce and lime quarters.