When I was in my 20s my aunt, Christine, cooked me dinner. She made a Thai-style green curry, but instead of the usual cut up chicken or prawns for protein, she made little patties out of turkey mince and fish sauce. Chris trained as a chef, so she knows what she’s doing, and eating that meal was one of those times I realized she really knows what she is doing.
I have been recreating and iterating on her recipe for these patties and have found that they have a myriad of potential uses. Sometimes I make bigger balls and eat them as plain burgers, fried or baked in the oven with a healthy portion of oven potatoes and mayo on the side. Sometimes I make smaller ones and smash them down in the pan, so that when they fry the sugars in the mix catch and caramelize. These kind are especially good in a Vietnamese style baguette with something pickled and something fresh. Or sometimes just on the side of a bowl of cold noodles. Or dipped extravagantly in a fried egg, like a weekend sausage.
I actually gave you food poisoning with this recipe, when I made slightly bigger patties and dropped them into a Thai style coconut curry, just like Chris did. What I didn’t tell you at the time was that I saw the middle was a bit pink, but thought it would be fine. Turns out pink poultry in Hong Kong is, as you found out shortly after, not fine at all.
This probably won’t be something you’re inclined to make in Japan, but I thought you might like the story, and we might like making this every now and again, perhaps checking it’s cooked all the way through this time.
A&A’s Turkey Patties
SHOPPING LIST
Must Haves
- 500g turkey mince (ideally around 7% fat and ideally dark, not light meat). You can substitute for minced chicken thigh if there is no turkey around
- 2 slices of bread, blitzed in a food processor.
- 6 tablespoons fish sauce (use 4 if you are using the premium strong one)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon chilli (fresh or flakes). If using powdered, a teaspoon will do.
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- Splash or two of milk
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
Optional
- Handful of coriander, chopped fine
- 2 or 3 spring onions, chopped fine
- 1 tablespoon white pepper
HOW TO MAKE
1. Put the fish sauce and sugar in a pan. Put on a low heat util the sugar dissolves, then turn off the heat. Let cool a little, then pour into the raw turkey mine.
2. To the turkey mince and fish sauce, add: bread, a couple of splashes of milk, chilli, sesame oil, soy sauce. Mix well.
3. If desired, add spring onions, coriander and white pepper.
4. At this stage, it’s worth cooking off a small patty in a frying pan and adjusting for seasoning (or more of any of the other ingredients).
5. The patties can be fried, baked or used as dumplings. They are also a tasty thing to have in the freezer for a delicious short notice dinner.