Picture above is our family buying ingedients in a Thai market, a few years ago now! This recipe takes 10 minutes, serves 4. You need:

• 400g white fish fillet (pollack, whiting, cod etc.) cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons red Thai curry paste
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (Nam Pla)
• 450ml coconut milk
• 20 cherry tomatoes
• 20 fresh basil leaves
• Salt and pepper

Season the flour and toss the fish chunks in it to coat. Put the oil in a frying pan, place on a medium heat and fry the fish in the oil for 3-4 minutes. Mix the coconut milk with the garlic, curry paste and fish sauce. Pour over the fish in the frying pan, and add the cherry tomatoes. When the mixture has started to boil turn the heat down and simmer for five minutes. Scatter with shredded basil leaves and serve with Thai rice. Couldn’t be easier. (I can’t remember where this recipe came from but several similar ones exist in Thai cookery books so it is authentic).

This is the real deal, thot man pla, as taught in the Baan Thai Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is a quick and easy recipe, using any type of fish, prawns or crab meat. The fish needs to be skinned, filleted and boned then minced, so any humble fish will do, or a mixture. Great for those days when you catch a load of odds and ends and nothing big enough to look good on a plate. Above  is daughter Aedy under the watchful eye of our tutor.

For four (and you can do this just for yourself by dividing the quantities) you will need:

• 500g minced white fish meat, prawns or crab meat
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs red curry paste
• 1tbs plain flour or tempura flour for true authenticity
• 1 long bean or about 4 French beans sliced thinly
• 3 tbs finely sliced fresh kaffir lime leaves (see tip)
• salt to taste (half to one tsp)
• 1 tsp sugar
• Palm oil for deep frying (or your usual deep frying oil)

Mix together everything except the palm oil. It will be a bit sloppy, but don’t worry just yet.

Tip: kaffir lime leaves have a tough stem, to remove this simply fold in half length-ways with the stem uppermost, hold the leaf part in one hand and pull the stem up and away leaving the two halves of the leaf ready for slicing.

Heat the oil in a wok or saucepan to a point where a cube of bread goes brown and crispy in 30 seconds. Spoon the mixture into the oil a blob at a time, each blob about the size of a walnut shell. After each blob lands, give it 20 seconds then squash the blob on the bottom of the pan or wok with a metal spatula to flatten it, then slide the next blob in. After each blobbing and squashing, go back to your now flat and sizzling fish cakes and gently turn them over. As they become brown and cooked-looking, scoop them out, let the oil drip off then put them on a plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb more oil. If you get the timing right you will look busy for ten minutes but it is not difficult,

Serve with a sweet chilli dipping sauce, bottled is fine but you could make your own. A squeeze of lime is good too.

For four people you will need

• 200g fish per person (800g): any boneless white fish or a combo with some cooked prawns, salmon fillet, even a mackerel fillet or smoked mackerel. Great for using up belly flaps, cod cheeks, and that stray rockling
• 4 slices dry old white bread
• 1 lemon
• Handful of fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper
• Oil for cooking – veg oil or sunflower

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe and couldn’t be easier because you don’t need to faff with potato or egg wash.

You will need a food processor or be very diligent at chopping. Firstly take the crusts off your bread and whizz them to breadcrumbs. Set aside on a large plate. Take a tablespoon or two of the crumbs and put them  back in your food processor. Chop the parsley and put it in the processor. Grate the zest off the lemon and add that too. Add salt and pepper, and your chosen fish combo. Whizz to a chunky gloop.  Tip the lot onto a chopping board. Here’s a tip: to divide it easily mould it into a large round cake. Now slice your cake into four and four again like a Union Jack. Take each slice and mould it into a burger shape. You should have eight of equal size. Roll them in the breadcrumbs and pat them to stick. If you have time, put them all on a plate in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes, that helps stop them  falling apart.

Now heat oil in a frying pan, about 1cm deep. Heat it so a cube cut from one of your spare crusts goes crispy golden brown in 30 seconds (but not burnt nut brown!). Now add your fishcakes. You may need to play with the heat controls so it cooks them without burning. After 5-8 minutes turn them over and give them another five on the other side. Hopefully the side you see will be not pale, not black but golden brown.

When cooked through, drain on kitchen towel and serve with your favourite accompaniments. In my opinion new potatoes and peas are hard to beat.

Thank you Jamie Oliver. This can be based on any white fish but why not use pouting like Jamie does. This involves breaded fish strips, sweet potato fries and a very tasty basil mayo relish.  Quantities can be scaled up easily depending on number fish and number of mouths.

Sweet potato fries:

Heat oven to 200deg C.

Wash but don’t peel some small sweet potatoes. Slice length-ways to make small wedges, about six per small potatoes gives you chip-sized wedges. Toss in olive oil with a sprinkle of salt, pepper and paprika. Place on an oven tray and roast for 35 minutes, turning occasionally. They are done when a knife point goes right in easily.

Basil mayo:

Per person (or multiply up): take about ten basil leaves and pound to mush in a pestle and mortar. Add juice from 1/4 lemon and add half a tablespoon of plain yogurt and  a half a tablespoon of mayonnaise. Mix together, job done. This is very light and refreshing.

Fish fingers:

Heat cooking oil in a frying pan, about 5mm deep will do. Fry a clove of garlic in the oil first to flavour it, then remove. Take two pout fillets per person, skinned and boned. Slice down the middle to create four “fingers”. Dip in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs. Drop in the oil and fry each side until golden.

Serve with peas. Very good!