This recipe is a variation on my Japanese Soft mini-Hamburg for Bento, it has a lot of bread crumb so that the final steaming reabsorbs water to keep them moist after cooling and also when reheating for snacks.

To keep this low salt, watch the bread crumbs you are adding as they are 400 – 600mg/100g sodium.

The chicken mixture can also be used to make chicken skewers. See Chicken skewers with rice noodle and herb salad.

Ingredients

Chicken burgers

1kg Chicken breast

3 cloves garlic peeled and chopped

4cm ginger, peeled and chopped

1 Birdseye chilli deseeded and chopped

3 tbsp castor sugar

½ tsp white pepper

3 spring onions, white to light green part, sliced

2 tsp soy sauce or soy sauce substitute

½ cup milk

150 gr fresh bread crumbs (for GF use GF bread)

Handful coriander leaves

Oil to fry

Jug of water to steam.

Fresh coriander to garnish

Nước Mấm Chấm dipping sauce

3 tbsp fish sauce

3 tbsp green kumquat juice, lime juice or rice wine vinegar

3 tbsp castor sugar

½ cup water

½ tsp minced garlic

½ tsp thinly sliced Birdseye chilli

Instructions

Start Chicken Skewers

Cut the chicken into rough chunks. Put the chicken, chilli, ginger and garlic in a food processor and process to a paste. Add the soy sauce, sugar, pepper, spring onion, milk bread crumbs, coriander and process until combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 Prepare Dipping Sauce

In a small bowl combine all the ingredients for the dipping sauce and stir till sugar dissolved. Check for taste, and adjust to balance the flavours. Serve the fish sauce into bowls, one for each person. Set aside.

Fry Chicken Burgers

Prepare a tray for balls and a tray with paper towel for cooked chicken burgers.

Remove balls from fridge, put some oil in a bowl and using lightly oiled fingers, form the chicken mixture into small balls. Place the balls on a tray or plate.

Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan, add the chicken balls pressing to a patty as you place them. The patties will take about  4–5 minutes on one side and 2-3 mins on the other, or until they are golden and cooked through.

Pour enough water to cover bottom of fry pan and cover with a lid (eg wok lid) immediately, let steam for 3 mins.

Wiping clean the frying pan between batches.

Serving

Arrange some chicken burgers on each plate or share plate. Sprinkle with coriander leaves. Serve with the dipping sauce bowls.

Storage

The chicken burgers, once cooled, can be sealed in zip lock snack bags to freeze and pulled out for snacks and lunch boxes.