Year of the Ox - Burger

Apologies for not posting in a while, I've just finished up a project I was working on, and that took up most of my time for the past few weeks. Happy Chinese New Year for those celebrating! The first day of Chinese New Year was on 26th Jan, and we've been enjoying our 3-day holiday here in Hong Kong. Many small shops and restaurants close at this time of the year, so I tend to go on a grocery shopping frenzy beforehand to stock up the kitchen. I've been cooking almost non-stop (or so it seems) the past few days, and I'm finally taking a break - until lunchtime.

This year is the Year of the Ox, and although it was not planned, we ended up having (beef) burgers for lunch. I knew I would have a few days of cooking coming up, and some late nights, so I'd made the patties in advance and froze them. It made the world of difference in timing to simply defrost and re-heat the patties, and put together the rest of the burger. 

The recipe for my simple beef mince homemade burgers are here. If you are not raw onion eater (like me), or you don't like the taste of onion much, fry the onions first before adding them to the raw mince. That way, you can still have a medium-cooked burger, without the overpowering taste of semi-cooked onions. 

I topped the burgers with some avocado slices, mushrooms, melted cheese, and a homemade tomato sauce. This sauce is really quick and easy to make, and is a nice alternative to tomato slices (or store bought tomato ketchup) in your burgers. It can also be used as a dip for chicken nuggets, fish fingers, or as a topping for some pan fried seabass, etc.

Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce...

Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce

8 - 10 cherry tomatoes
1 Tbsp light olive oil
red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Slice the cherry tomatoes into quarters.
2. Heat up the oil in a small frying pan. Add the tomatoes and fry over medium high heat.
3. Squeeze the tomatoes with a spoon/spatula so their juices ooze out.
4. Add a few shakes of red pepper flakes if you like your sauce spicy (optional).
5. Continue frying until the tomato and their skins break down and the sauce thickens.

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Homemade Burger

Another guilt-free fast food dish you can easily whip up at home is the burger. Making your own burger is definitely the healthier option, especially if you use the leanest minced meat you can find.

Beef Burgers

(makes around 4 large patties, 5 medium patties)

360g (0.8lb) lean mince beef
1 small onion
2 Tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
1 Tbsp soya sauce
1 egg
5 Tbsp breadcrumbs
dash dry basil leaves
dash salt and pepper

1. Chop the onion and pan fry it with a little oil until the onion is soft. Set aside to cool a little.
2. In a bowl, mix all the other ingredients together. Add the cooked onion. 
3. Mix well, form into patties.
4. Heat up a grill or non-stick frying pan. Add a small amount of oil. Grill/pan-fry the burger patties for 2-3 minutes or until cooked through.
5. Sandwich the burger patty between a hamburger bun and add your desired toppings - eg. cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach leaves, bacon, mushrooms, jalapeno chillis etc.

In the picture above, I added low fat cheese, sliced cherry tomatoes, butter lettuce, bacon and a grilled portobello mushroom. You can also add some mayonnaise or sauce, but I didn't, as I find this burger is tasty enough without the sauce (it's healthier this way, too!)