Lemon grass chicken cakes

I love the citrussy, slightly grassy flavour of the lemongrass in these chicken cakes. It gives them a tropical, on holiday sort of feel. They are light, full of taste and of course, they are quick and make ahead. Just throw all the ingredients into a food processor and in a couple of minutes they are done. The slightly messy bit is making the little cakes. It definitely helps to wet your hands to mold them.

Ingredients - makes 16

150g chicken breast

1 lemongrass stalk

0.5 clove garlic

1 salad onion

10g chopped coriander

1 small red chilli, finely chopped

10g breadcrumbs

Zest of half a lemon

1 tbsp beaten egg

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp dark soy sauce

5g ginger, finely chopped

Vegetable oil to cook

Method

Cut the chicken into small pieces and put in a food processor together with the chopped soft centre of the lemon grass and the chilli. Process until the chicken resembles mince. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the ginger, and pulse to mix it all together. Finally add the ginger and pulse to combine everything.

Line a plate with baking parchment. Using wet hands, make small cakes (mine were about 12g in weight).

When ready to cook, heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook the cakes. When one side is golden, turn and cook the other side.

Either serve immediately with sweet chilli sauce, or chill and reheat in the oven (190°c 5 minutes or until piping hot). They can also be cooked and then frozen.