Shrimp Cake ทอดมันกุ้ง (tod mun goong)

Bring a Thai flare to your dinner party with these spicy shrimp cakes! This is my own hybrid recipe between our traditional Thai fish cake (tod mun pla) and Thai shrimp cakes (tod mun goong), taking the best of both worlds.

These shrimp cakes are flavoured with red curry paste, but in Thailand the flavours of shrimp cakes are more plain (delicious, but plain) and they are served with plum sauce. They're kid-friendly, crunchy, and beautiful.

Thai fish cakes, on the other hand, are flavoured with red curry paste, but because they are deep fried without breading or batter, they don't end up looking particularly pretty.

So for this recipe I combined the flavour of Thai fish cakes with the beautiful crunchy presentation of shrimp cakes, and I am very pleased with how it turned out!

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Ingredients

Here are all the ingredients you'll need to make this recipe. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.

The Shrimp Cakes

• Shrimp. I prefer using fresh shrimp for this recipe because commercially frozen shrimp have an ice glaze around them, and when they thaw, the melted ice makes the shrimp extra wet. If not dried well, the extra water will cause your mixture to be too runny to form into balls. So if you have to use frozen shrimp, dry them off super-duper well after thawing.
• Egg
• Red curry paste
• Coconut milk
• Kaffir lime leaves, centre rib removed and very thinly julienned
• Long beans, chopped into ¼" pieces, you can also do a combination of long beans and corn
• Fish sauce. The amount of fish sauce you need will depend on how salty your curry paste is. For your first time, I recommend mixing everything without the fish sauce, and then cook a small amount of the mixture on a frying pan or in the microwave to taste, so you know where you're starting from.
• Sugar
• Panko breadcrumbs
• Oil for frying (I use canola oil)
• Fresh cucumber slices for serving

Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

You can certainly buy Thai sweet chili sauce from many grocery stores, but the homemade version is much better and is quite easy. You can also jazz up store bought ones with the cilantro and the peanuts.

• White vinegar
• Sugar
• Mild red chilies, chopped into small pieces. A red bell pepper will also work for this.
• Garlic
• Thai chilies, add as much as you like to customize the heat level of your sauce (or add none at all)
• Roasted, crushed peanuts, optional
• Cilantro for garnish, optional

How to Make Shrimp Cakes

Here are all the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success.

To Make the Shrimp Cakes

1. Add the coconut milk to a sauté pan and bring to a boil. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring constantly, to reduce the liquid until it becomes a thick paste. Let it cool completely in the freezer while you prep other ingredients.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the cooled curry paste, chopped long beans, corn (if using), kaffir lime leaves, sugar, and fish sauce.
3. Grind the shrimp and the egg in a food processor until very fine. Add the shrimp mixture to the mixing bowl and stir everything together until well mixed. Put this mixture in the fridge, covered in plastic wrap, while you make the dipping sauce.

For the Dipping Sauce

1. Pound together the chilies and the garlic into a paste and transfer the mixture into a small pot.
2. Add the sugar and vinegar to the pot and let simmer for 2-3 minutes to thicken. The mixture will also thicken as it cools.
3. While the dipping sauce is cooling, shape and fry the shrimp cakes.

To Shape the Shrimp Cakes

1. Divide the shrimp cake into about 1 tablespoon portions using a small disher or a tablespoon measure. Once done, put the panko into a wide, shallow bowl.
2. Wet your hands with some water, roll each shrimp cake portion into a ball, and drop the ball into the panko. If you want to make larger pieces, shape them into patties rather than balls so they cook faster.
3. Continue rolling until there's no more room in the panko bowl. Spoon the panko over the shrimp cake to cover, and with dry, clean hands, grab each shrimp cake and gently press the panko onto the surface and set them on another plate.

To Fry the Shrimp Cakes

1. Add frying oil to a pot until it's at least 1" deep. Heat the oil to 350 F. Drop the shrimp cake and fry for a few minutes, they will puff up and may crack slightly, which is expected.
2. Once they are a nice golden brown colour, after a few minutes, put them on a paper towel-lined plate. They will continue to cook after they've been removed from the oil, and the colour will continue to darken from golden to brown.
3. You can cut one open to check for doneness, but don't cut it right out of the oil - let it sit for a minute first so the residual heat can finish cooking them.

To Serve

1. Right before serving, add the crushed peanuts and chopped cilantro to the dipping sauce and serve along side the shrimp cake.
2. Serve these with some fresh cucumber slices to add a touch of crunch and freshness!

Do Ahead Tip

You can make the mixture, shape, and bread the shrimp cake the day before and keep them covered in the fridge. You can also make the dipping sauce several days ahead of time, keeping them in the fridge.

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