Image Credit: ladyhomechef
If you’re a big fan of Thai food or you often visit a Thai restaurant, you’ll notice that the Thai Prawn Cakes is one of the most common appetisers and starter. You can easily find it sold amongst the street vendors in Thailand and five-star Thai restaurants around the world.
For those of you who love snacking, Thai Prawn Cakes is the perfect addition to your food list as you can have it while you’re doing a marathon of your favourite TV series or even when you’re having a small gathering at home.
What are Thai Prawn Cakes
At one glance the Prawn cakes almost look like a crossover between the cucur (fritters) and the Begedil (deep-fried potato patty) often found in Malay cuisine, and that’s probably because of its size and its golden, crunchy exterior.
The Thai Prawn Cakes are typically made by combining fresh shrimp that is finely chopped, the Thai red curry paste, coconut milk and long beans. The mixture is then rolled into tiny balls, deep-fried and served with the Thai sweet chilli sauce.
Some restaurants even add panko crumbs to the mixture to give it an extra crunch.
The story behind the Thai Prawn Cakes
Thailand gets its culinary influence from a lot of different countries. Deep-fried food in Thailand is a result of the Chinese influence of Chinese migrants in the early 15th century.
The use of chilli that is synonymous in every Thai cuisine today is a result of Portuguese missionaries visiting Thailand in the 1600s. The Thai curry, used in the Thai Prawn Cakes is an influence of India.
Thailand gets a lot of their herb and spices influences from India, but they also substituted some of the ingredients to suit the local availabilities. Hence how we get the different Thai curry paste used in Thai cooking such as the Green Curry, Yellow Curry, Red Curry and the Massaman Curry.
The use of prawn in Thai cuisine should come as no surprise as the country is surrounded by freshwater sources, giving the locals easy access to seafood like shrimp, prawn and freshwater fishes like catfish and Tilapia.
As a result of decades of the recipe and multiple influences, the locals created the Thai Prawn Cakes as a starter to a complete family meal, familiar to the dining etiquette of Thai royalties and Thai commoners.
The Nutritional Content of Thai Prawn Cakes
Deep-fried food certainly comes with a warning hence why the Thai Prawn Cakes is not ideal to be consumed daily, but every once in a while, if you are going to treat yourself, the Thai Prawn Cakes would be the best choice.
A serving of Thai Prawn Cakes contains about 134 calories and a total carbohydrate of 9.4g. It will include high cholesterol from the deep-frying, but you would also get some Vitamin A, B12 and B6 from the shrimp.
Where to get Thai Prawn Cakes in Malaysia
If you’re a shrimp fan and you’re craving for something as delicious as this dish, head over to STREAT Thai in Bangsar South and order their Prawn Cakes that is available for appetisers. Tasty even if it is paired with other famous Thai dishes available in store. Can’t leave your couch? Order the Thai Prawn Cakes and more from the foodpanda app and have them delivered right to your door.