If you made my last recipe, I know you have a jar of Thai green curry paste somewhere in your fridge, although you could have done the wise thing and stored it in your freezer. But, if you’re like me, you always believe you’re going to be using it right away, so you keep it in the fridge…right up until the day you notice that it’s not green curry paste anymore but green furry paste. Then it’s compost, expensive spicy compost.
Don’t let that happen to your curry paste! Whether you bought it or made it from my recipe, exotic lemongrass and ginger gave their lives for that precious substance. Use it while it’s fresh to make these delicious morsels.
Modeled on Thai fish cakes, these appetizer-sized croquettes use the sea vegetable arame to give them a hint of oceany flavor. If you don’t have or like green curry paste, you can use red curry. Or if Thai food is not your thing, make an Americanized version using Old Bay Seasoning (start with 2 teaspoons and add more to taste) instead of the curry paste and serve them with tartar sauce or horseradish-infused ketchup.
Green Curry Tofu Cakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup hot vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon arame , crushed between fingers slightly
- 1 teaspoon chia seed or ground flaxseeds
- 14 ounces extra-firm tofu , drained well
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons lite soy sauce or gluten-free tamari
- 2-3 tablespoons green curry paste (use even less if you’re using store-bought paste or don’t like things too spicy)
- 1/2 cup quinoa flakes or quick oats (see notes below)
- 1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
- 1/4 cup minced parsley or cilantro
- 1 cup breading , optional (see below)
Instructions
- Heat vegetable broth and add arame and chia seed. (If using ground flax, add it to the tofu later.) Let stand for at least 1/2 hour to allow seaweed and chia to soften.
- Place the tofu, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, curry paste, and quinoa flakes into food processor and process until well-blended. Add the broth mixture and pulse quickly a few times to blend. Scrape into a bowl and add the red pepper and parsley or cilantro. Cover and refrigerate at least 1/2 hour. Mixture can be prepared a day in advance if necessary.
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Put your breading on a plate, if you’re using one. Using a measuring spoon, scoop 2 tablespoons onto the breading, sprinkle a little breading on top, and gently shape into a 2-inch wide cake with your fingers. Use a spatula to lift the cake from the plate onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Repeat for remaining tofu mixture. (If you’re not using a breading, place 2 tablespoons of tofu directly onto your prepared baking sheet and use fingers or a spoon to gently shape it into a cake. Repeat for remaining tofu.)
- Bake at 400F for 20-30 minutes. Unbreaded cakes take less time than cakes with breading.
- Remove from oven and serve hot with dipping sauce, below, tartar sauce, or ketchup spiked with horseradish.
Notes
Blood Orange Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup sugar1 tablespoon water
1/8 cup blood orange vinegar
1/2 small carrot, shredded
1/4 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and shredded Heat the sugar, water, and vinegar in a small saucepan until sugar is melted and mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the carrot and cucumber. Let cool before serving. Sauce makes about 4 servings. Nutrition (per serving): 55 calories, <1 calories from fat, <1g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 7.5mg sodium, 59mg potassium, 13.9g carbohydrates, <1g fiber, 13.2g sugar, <<1 protein, 1.6 points.
Nutritional info is approximate.
Andrea @ Vegvacious
In my previous life 😉 I used to love crab and fish cakes so these are definitely on my list to make! These look delicious and I can’t wait to give them a try!
Kathleen @ KatsHealthCorner
SOOOOO COOOOOL!!!!! love your recipes, and this one is NO exception! 🙂 This is SO much better than any of those fish cakes. 🙂
Claire
Wow, I didn’t see your first post about this, but I made the same curry paste this weekend! It’s in my freezer until I can make a vegan version of this recipe with it. I will definitely make these tofu cakes, too. I’ll probably use shredded nori for the arame, just because I have nori in my pantry already.
Jenny
I just made these (as I did indeed have left-over green curry paste from last week’s recipe!), and they were a success! The taste is great, but mine didn’t seem to turn as golden brown as yours look in the second picture, even after 35 minutes (I used panko), so I just went ahead and took ’em out. But they’re plenty crispy, so yay! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
SusanV
I’m glad you liked them! In the first two photos, I used panko mixed with a little whole-grain cracker crumbs, so they’re a bit browner than just panko. In the third photo, I used all cracker crumbs, so they’re quite a bit browner (and more attractive, in my opinion).
LORI
What are quinoa flakes? Also is green curry paste readily available… Whole Foods?
Thanks so much… looks delicious!
SusanV
Quinoa flakes are a hot cereal make of quinoa. Look for them in the cereal aisle of Whole Foods. Green curry paste should be available in the Asian section of any large grocery store.
Michelle
Thank you for this recipe! I have the same problem, I open a thing of curry paste for a recipe and then use it only once and not again for a while! Now I’ll have even more things to do with it. 🙂
easy vegetarian recipes
I didn’t even notice that this was made from tofu if i haven’t read the title. you really have a great blog site. keep it up!
Con Conz
These look right good! But, a couple of question’s. Would i be able to freeze leftovers? OR would they go squishy fail? And could i substitute something for the quinoa flakes? They’re not available here 🙁
SusanV
They should freeze just fine if you wrap each one individually. And you can substitute quick oats or oat flour for the quinoa flakes.
Con conz
Thankinyou! definately gonna give them a go, might even make me own paste!
Gena
Oh, these look fantastic! You’re killing the green curry recipes lately.
Krista
Yum! I made this recipe as soon as I saw it yesterday. It has officially been partner-approved to serve to guests! Thanks!
Abbeygirl
Is green or red curry paste hotter in your opinion????
SusanV
I find the red curry paste hotter, but I don’t know if that’s just me! It seems like there are more “cool” ingredients in green curry to cut the heat.
Moonwatcher
Hi Susan,
These look fantastic! Another great application of this great chili paste. And I love arame too. The photos are lovely.
Thanks,
Moonwatcher
Chelsea
Oh my goodness, those look delicious! I will totally have to try making some.
Katie
I do have leftover green curry paste and will try these! I love savory cakes – so fun to eat. Thanks for sharing this.
perfit training
You ma’am is sent from heaven. This is great!!! I’ll tell my vegetarian mom about this. The only thing that sucks is that we don’t have an oven at home but who cares. She can make it somewhere if she wants to.
Caitlyn
These look absolutely divine! Can’t wait to get in the kitchen and make some!
Thank you!
Caitlyn
Rachel @ The Perseverance Diaries
These look amazing! Especially that blood orange dipping sauce, yum.
misssakura
You’re lucky to be able to get vegan green thai curry paste. In New Zealand they all contain shrimp. 🙁
Marissa
I made these spread out in a roasting pan and then cut them, and they were wonderful that way too! I didn’t bread them, just sprinkled some quick oats on top.
Keri Anne
These look amazing! What an inspiring recipe, and now on my to-do list this weekend, after I make some of your bbq seitan for pineapple pizza with my sweetie tonight. Checking your blog is one of my favorite ways to relax Susan, thanks for all you do!
Sarah
Where can I find blood orange vinegar? I’ve made these curry cakes twice now, and they are so very, very tasty. I’m glad to have another use for my masaman curry paste!
SusanV
High-end grocery stores should have the blood orange vinegar. Look for the Perel brand.
Liz
That looks delicious, thanks for the recipe (especially the dipping sauce)! About how long did it take to prepare?
Also, I really like that serving plate it is on. Where is that from?
Thanks for sharing!
Liz-CoolProducts
Carol
This recipe was amazing! I had made the green curry paste last week and I was happy to see this recipe to use up more of it. I used hijiki seaweed instead of the arame because it was cheaper, and it still had the “fishy” flavour. I also used white balsamic vinegar instead of the blood orange and it came out wonderful. Although, blood orange vinegar sounds fantastic. I used panko bread crumbs and cooked half of the cakes in the oven and the other half in my cast iron skillet and I liked the ones that were baked much more. I would probably turn over the cakes about half way through to get browned on both sides or use the broiler to brown the top.
In short, this recipe was fantastic. Thank you!
Lisa
Carol how long did you bake these in the oven and at what temperature?
Chameleon Thai (Brighton)
Hi Susan, great blog! These look delicious 🙂
Nikki
I don’t have arame, can I use kelp powder instead? And if so about how much should I use?
Susan Voisin
For a powder, I would start with a teaspoon or even less and see if it tastes or smells too fishy.
sandi
OMG I made this last night with the Old Bay and veganaise tarter sauce….fabulous. Even better today cold for lunch. Thank you for the great recipe 🙂
sandi
Oh and Happy Mothers Day!
Lisa
Hi Susan. Would you recommend freezing these? Also, would it be fine without the nutritional yeast? Or maybe you can suggest a substitution for this.
Thanks! Have really been enjoying your recipes.
Susan Voisin
I think they would be fine after freezing. As for the nutritional yeast, it just adds flavor so try increasing the other seasonings a little.
Danielle
Hello, I wanted to tell you that I made these tonight with some subs (old fashioned oats for quinoa flakes, also the oats instead of breadcrumbs, hijiki instead of arame, corn instead of red peppers, etc.) and I LOVED them. This is the hallmark of a good recipe, IMO, that a person with some experience in the kitchen can make substitutions and the recipe still turns out great!
I made your dipping sauce with rice vinegar and added a spoonful of homemade blackberry jam… yum! The jam added that fruity taste.
I also made the sauce from your Thai Black Pepper & Garlic Tofu recipe and coated some vegetables with it, and served everything over brown Jasmine rice. Your sauce recipe was also delicious.
Your web site is full of inspiration for me. I’ve adopted the McDougall diet since May, and though I am a good cook I felt lost at times without oil in the kitchen, it’s kind of like all of a sudden having to cook without spatulas or something. Your recipes have helped make my journey to learn added-fat-free vegan cooking so much easier.
Thank you!!
Desina
Since developing this recipe, have you tried it in the air fryer? Because I went and got not-the-cheapest one, I feel like I should use it frequently, and have been trying all kinds of things in it.
What I did find is that certain prepared foods that I have done both in the oven and frying pan, have stayed crispy on the outside, but it tasted different,
Susan Voisin
I haven’t tried this one in the air fryer, but if I make it again, I will. I’ve had that experience with my air fryer, too. I made falafels in it but didn’t like the flavor. They tasted different from oven-baked falafel from the same recipe. I don’t know why that is.