Thai Chicken & Peanut Mini Burgers

I made these wonderful mini burgers for my friend’s 60th birthday party. They have a wonderful fresh spicy flavour and I served them with a peanut sauce which works well and infuses all the aromatic Thai ingredients.

Ingredients
500 grams of mince chicken
1/2 cup toasted peanuts (chopped)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 Kaffir Lime Leaves (finely shredded)
1/2 fresh cayenne chilli (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons fresh coriander (finely chopped)
2 spring onions (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon Thai Red Curry paste
1 tablespoon of Fish Sauce
1 egg
150 ml oil for frying
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation time 20 minutes.
Refrigeration time 30 minutes.
Cooking time 20 minutes

In a large bowl place the chicken mince, peanuts, breadcrumbs, curry paste, lime leaves, chilli, coriander, spring onions, fish sauce and egg.  Mix all the ingredients well.  Divide the mixture into 30-35 small balls.  You will find that they will be quite soft to work with.  (You may need to wet your hands under some cold water to make it easier to work with the mixture). Flatten the balls into small discs approximately 1.5-2cm thick.  Lay them in a single layer on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the burgers in batches for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until they are golden in colour.  Place the cooked burgers on a paper towel to drain any excess oil from cooking.

Keep the heat on medium to low to ensure that you don’t cook the burgers too quickly.

Peanut Sauce
1/2 small Spanish onion (finely chopped)
1 small clove garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 tablespoon of coriander (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon of Thai Red Curry paste (store bought)
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of peanut oil

In a small pot place the oil, chopped onion, garlic and sauté on medium heat for 3-4 minutes until the onion is translucent and browning a little.  Add the chopped coriander, red curry paste and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the peanut butter stirring continually, add the sugar, water and continue stirring.  The mixture should appear thick and creamy.  Stir in the coconut milk.  If you find it’s too thick add a little more water.  The sauce should resemble a thick rich gravy.  Keep the heat low when adding the peanut butter and water it will start bubbling very quickly.  If you find this occurs remove from the stove and turn the heat down.

Cook’s Tips
I also make these as larger burgers  and serve them as a meal with an Asia style slaw.  For easy entertaining you can make a larger quantity to serve to your guests.  They can be made a day or two ahead as well as the peanut sauce.  Before serving heat the burgers in the oven, warm up the peanut sauce on top of the stove and assemble on a platter and serve.

You may wish to add a little more sugar to your peanut sauce.  Try it first, then gradually add the extra sugar.  You may also like to add extra chilli to make it more spicy.  If so chop 1/2 or 1 small chilli and add it into the pan with the onion and garlic.  However, check how spicy the red curry paste is first, before adding the extra chilli.  It is perfectly fine to use dry chilli flakes.

Enjoy!