Spicy Thai Shrimp Cakes (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), combining the best features of each.

These addictive appetizers are crunchy on the outside and tender and bouncy on the inside. They're as tasty as crab cakes, but easier and more affordable to make! They can also be prepped ahead of time (see below for details), making it easy to serve these at a party.

You won't find this unique dish in any Thai restaurant so that's a treat! 

So I got the idea to make the crunchy, beautiful shrimp cakes, but borrowing the bold red curry flavours of Thai fish cakes and its sweet chili sauce. The result was stunning. In fact, it's so good I'm surprised this is not (yet) a thing in Thailand!

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

• Raw shrimp. I prefer using fresh shrimp for this recipe because commercially frozen shrimp have an ice glaze around them. When they thaw, the melted ice makes the shrimp very wet, and 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. You could even let them air dry in the fridge for a few hours to be safe.
• Egg
• Red curry paste. Store bought curry paste is fine for this but they do vary quite a bit in saltiness and heat level. I use Maeploy for this. See my post here comparing the most popular brands of Thai red curry paste.
• Coconut milk
• Makrut lime leaves, (aka kaffir lime leaves) centre rib removed and very thinly julienned
• Long beans, chopped into ¼" pieces. You can substitute French green beans (the small, skinny ones). You can also do a combination of long beans and corn as I have done in the video. 
• 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 bread crumbs. Panko style breadcrumbs have larger flakes and will give the crunch and texture they're supposed to have. 
• Oil for frying. I use canola oil, but vegetable oil or other neutral flavoured frying oil is fine.
• Fresh cucumber slices for serving, optional.

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. This recipe makes a small amount, but if you want to make it in bulk and keep in the fridge, here's my sweet chili sauce recipe. Alternatively, plum sauce would also work. 

• White vinegar
• Sugar
• Mild red chilies, chopped into small pieces. A red bell pepper will work, as will any other mild red pepper you have available.
• Garlic
• Thai chilies, add as much as you like to customize the heat level of your sauce (or add none at all). 
• Peanuts, roasted and crushed, optional
• Cilantro for garnish, optional, or sub green onions

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, especially the shaping and breading technique!

For the Shrimp Cake Mixture

1. Add the coconut milk to a sauté pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. 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), makrut lime leaves, sugar, and fish sauce.
3. Grind the dry shrimp and the egg in a food processor until it looks like a smooth paste, stopping the scrape the side of the food processor bowl a few times. 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. In a mortar and pestle, pound together the chilies and the garlic into a paste and transfer the mixture into a small pot. Add the sugar and vinegar and let simmer for 2-3 minutes to thicken. The mixture will also thicken as it cools. (Alternatively, blend the chilies and the garlic together with the sugar and the vinegar until coarsely blended and transfer to the pot.)
2. While the dipping sauce is cooling, shape and fry the shrimp cakes.