Cooking in
Singapore
Thai
Thod Man Goong (Prawn Cakes)
A preparation related to tod man pla but made from ground prawns — the prawn paste seasoned with red curry paste, kaffir lime leaves, and fish sauce, formed into small patties, and deep-fried until golden. Prawn cakes have a different texture from fish cakes: the prawn's higher moisture content and different protein structure produce a more delicate result — still bouncy, but with a slightly more open interior and a sweeter, more oceanic flavour. The curry paste's aromatics are the same; the prawn's sweetness provides a different counterpoint than the fish's more neutral flavour.
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Cook
I
The Market List
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500 g
prawns
peeled and deveined
Your own market
2 tbsp
red curry paste
1 tbsp
fish sauce
Your own market
1½ tsp
palm sugar
slightly more than for fish cakes
Origin · Indonesia
1
egg
Your own market
4
kaffir lime leaves
very finely shredded
1 litre
neutral oil
for deep-frying
II
The Method
1
Place the peeled, deveined prawns in a food processor and process for exactly 2 minutes — not longer, so the paste stays smooth and open rather than tight and dense in the way a fish-cake paste becomes when overworked. Prawns need less working than fish; stop the moment the paste looks cohesive and smooth, before it develops that aggressive, springy stickiness.
2
Add the red curry paste, fish sauce, palm sugar, egg, and shredded kaffir lime leaves to the prawn paste and process for a further 30 seconds only, so the aromatics are evenly distributed without driving the paste beyond the soft, slightly open texture you want. Press a little between your fingers — it should hold its shape but feel gentler and more yielding than a fish-cake mixture.
From the canon — The foundational red curry paste of the Thai kitchen — built on dried long red chillies soaked and pounded with lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime zest, coria… Red Curry Paste (Krung Gaeng Phet Daeng) →
3
Dampen your hands and form the paste into small, flat patties of even thickness so each cake meets the oil at the same depth and colours uniformly without any thicker edge lagging behind.
4
Heat the oil to 170°C — measurably lower than the 180°C used for tod man pla — so the interior cooks through before the prawn's natural sugars on the surface scorch and darken too quickly. Confirm the temperature with a thermometer, or drop in a small piece of paste: it should sizzle steadily without immediately browning hard at the edges. This is where the dish lives or dies; oil even slightly too hot will give you a gilded outside and a raw, soft centre.
From the canon — A mixture of ground fish, red curry paste, kaffir lime leaves, long beans, and fish sauce — formed into small patties and deep-fried until deeply golden on t… Tod Man Pla (Thai Fish Cakes) →
5
Lower the patties into the oil in batches without crowding, so the temperature holds steady and the cakes colour evenly rather than steaming against one another. Fry until both sides are a uniform golden colour — not pale, not deep amber — and the cakes hold their shape and float freely, then drain on absorbent paper.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Large, fresh wild-caught prawns, ground the same day; house-made red curry paste with freshly dried chillies and hand-pounded aromatics; unrefined palm sugar from a block; fresh kaffir lime leaves picked that morning.
02
Estate — Fresh farmed prawns of good provenance purchased on the day of cooking; a reliable wet-market red curry paste; palm sugar in block or disc form; fresh kaffir lime leaves.
03
Market — Good-quality chilled raw prawns, thawed properly under cold water; a commercial red curry paste of honest composition; soft palm sugar or light brown sugar; fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves.
04
House — Frozen raw prawns fully thawed and dried; commercial red curry paste; soft brown sugar; dried kaffir lime leaves, crumbled. The result is coarser in flavour but remains a recognisable version of the dish.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. The prawn paste after 2 minutes' processing feels smooth but not aggressively tacky; it yields slightly when pressed rather than springing back with the firmness of fish paste.
◇Touch. A formed patty holds its shape without cracking at the edges and does not slump; it feels cohesive but softer than a tod man pla cake.
◇Sound. The oil at 170°C produces a steady, controlled sizzle when a patty is introduced — vigorous but not violent; an aggressive roar indicates the oil is too hot.
◇Sight. The finished cakes are an even, light golden colour on both sides with no pale or scorched patches; they float freely in the oil.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the processing stage: two minutes for the prawn paste and no more, as over-processing collapses the delicate protein structure into a dense, rubbery result that no subsequent step can correct.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Sake
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