Chilli fishcakes

The Sunday Times last week ran extracts from Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet. There was a recipe for Thai Salmon Fishcakes. Of course, I did not have any lemon grass or fresh coriander; I used more chilli than they recommended; I included lime juice and ginger; and I decided that groundnut oil was more appropriate than olive oil. And I changed the technique a little. Apart from those things . . .

2 chillis (I had Scotch Bonnets, which are very hot; I removed the membrane and seeds)
4 spring onions
Small piece of ginger
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 egg
Tin of salmon
Salt and pepper
Groundnut oil

Put the chillis, spring onions, ginger and lime juice into a small, electric herb mill or coffee grinder, and blend. The mixture will be quite runny. Neris and India tell you to blend these ingredients with the egg in a food processor, adding the salmon and seasoning and blending again; but I beat the egg, tipped in the drained salmon with the salt and pepper, added the mixture from the mill, and mashed it all up with a fork.

Looking at this sloppy mess, you think, "Fishcakes?" But carry on: heat a puddle of oil above a medium flame in a frying pan, and add the mixture in spoonfuls. Allow these blobs -- if you've used a tbsp, you'll probably have about six -- to crisp on their undersides, before flipping them over. They won't be perfectly formed, but they will firm up.

Warning. The tinned salmon, especially when cooked, may remind you of something you'd give to a cat. The stink lingers, too.

But I enjoyed the fishcakes. This number would be enough for two; I ate them all, with rice.