Thai-Style Mini Pork Burger Bites
Serve these flavourful Thai-inspired pork burger bites at your next gathering, complete with garlic, soy sauce, and fragrant lemongrass.
From the book
The Noodle Cookbook
A collection of flavour-packed noodle recipes for every occasion
From Japanese-inspired ramen to plant-based noodle stir-fries
With advice on noodle varieties and store cupboard essentials
Introduction
Burger bites are a Western guilty pleasure, while this Thai-inspired healthy is just a pleasure. They’re great piled on a platter for something different at a party. Dip them into some of our Mr Lee’s house sauces for an extra hot, tangy or sweet hit. You can substitute the homemade hot sauce for shop-bought sriracha, and ready-made sweet chilli sauce is widely available.
Ingredients
| 20g (¾ oz) | dried rice vermicelli noodles |
| ½ tbsp | vegetable oil |
| For the burgers: | |
|---|---|
| 300g (10½ oz) | lean minced (ground) pork |
| ½ | small red onion, finely diced |
| ½ | lemongrass stalk (or ½ tsp ground dried lemongrass) |
| 2 | small anchovies, finely chopped |
| 1 tsp | garlic paste (or 2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped) |
| ½ tsp | ground white pepper |
| 1 tsp | ready-made fish sauce |
| 1 tsp | light soy sauce (or use tamari for a gluten-free alternative) |
| 1 tbsp | cornflour (corn starch) |
| 1 tsp | toasted sesame oil |
| 1 tsp | honey or agave syrup |
| To serve: | |
| 40–80ml (1¼–2¾fl oz) | sriracha |
| 40–80ml (1¼–2¾fl oz) | shop-bought sweet chilli sauce |
| lemon wedges |
Method
Place the noodles in a bowl of boiling water and leave to soak for 1–2 minutes. Drain well, then roughly chop them.
In a large bowl, mix together all the burger ingredients. Stir in the drained chopped noodles.
Using wet hands, form the meat mixture into golf-ball sized burgers and then flatten them a bit. Once you’ve formed your burger bites, place them on a board or tray, ready to cook.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large, wide frying pan (skillet) over a high heat. Add the burgers and cook for 2 minutes on each side, then reduce the heat to low and cook for a further 1 minute on one side only. Remove from heat and place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain any excess oil.
To serve, pile the burger bites on a serving plate, with lemon wedges and the dipping sauces in little bowls on the side. Then step back before the crowd descends. Head’s up: they go fast.
