Mini homemade burgers

I love long weekends where I can wake up late and indulge all the time I want to bake or cook =D (I'm very clumsy when having to rush).

Was browsing through several blogs and came across 'Little Burger' recipe posted by Grace of Kitchen Corner. Don't you just adore petite, bite-size burgers? During my recent trip to Tokyo, I saw several bakeries selling mini burgers; they just looked so adorable and tantalising! Having attempted the crusty bread roll and sweet bun, I felt I should be able to make the burger buns. And to match the mini buns, I need mini meat patties as well :)

First, prepare the meat patties since they need to chill for 3-4hrs after preparation. Once meat patties are ready, the buns would be as well (after kneading, proofing, baking).

Grace's recipe calls for 1kg of minced pork which I thought was too much for me. Decided to half the quantity to 500g. Since minced pork are sold in 300-400g packs at supermarkets, decided to buy a pack that weighed 330g and top up the rest with silken tofu. I guess minced pork and tofu patties could be a healthy option :) In fact, I could experiment with minced chicken next time.

Minced Pork & Tofu Patties

Ingredients: 20 meat patties

• 330g lean minced pork
• 170g silken tofu
• 1 small purple onion, peeled and finely chopped
• Pinch of powdered cumin seeds (I bought McCormick)
• 1/2 Tbsp powderd coriander leaves (I bought Masterfoods. In Grace's recipe, it's stated as coriander seeds but I mistakenly saw as leaves. Since bought, might as well use it)
• Pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
• Handful of grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 Tbsp english mustard
• 1 small egg
• 58g breadcrumbs (I bought Jap brand used for deep frying)

Steps:

1. Fry the onion with a little oil in a pan for few minutes until softened. When the onion completely cool down, mix it to the meat.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well (I use hand). (If the mixture is too sticky, add more breadcrumbs. I also added more parmesan cheese).
3. Shape the meat into patties depending on size and thickness desired. With this recipe, I managed to get 20 pieces of meat patties. My idea is to size them the same as tomato and cucumber. In fact, realised I should have quartered Grace's recipe since the bun recipe only yields 10 buns.
4. Place the patties on a tray with greaseproof paper or Silpat. The patties will be slightly soft as tofu is used instead of all meat.
5. Sprinkle some bread crumbs on top of each patty and press down gently. Cover with clingwrap and chill in the fridge for 3 - 4 hours.
6. When ready, fry the burger in a little oil or butter on medium high heat for few minutes, depending on the thickness of the patty.

Mini burger buns

Ingredients: 10 buns

• 300g bread flour
• 7g yeast (I use instant yeast from Phoon Huat)
• 9g sugar
• 6g salt
• 4g milk powder
• 190g (1 egg + water)
• 20g butter

Steps:

1. Knead all the ingredients with a dough hook for 15 minutes. As my dough was a little sticky and did not pass the 'window pane' test yet, I switched to hand kneading for another 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Once ready, place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with clingwrap.
3. Proof for 40 minutes (or longer till double in bulk) then divide it into 10 portions.
4. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Then shape it into little buns and proof for another 40 minutes or double in bulk.
5. Bake in a 190'C preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Saw in a bread making recipe book when browsing at Kinokuniya: To make the buns with smooth rounded top, I have to 'push' the dough in an upward movement. The top will be smooth. As for the bottom, pinch the dough together and try to smoothen (bottom will not be as smooth)

The little buggers (pun intended) look so cute can!

Slice the bun, insert with pan-fried patty, tomato and cucumber, there you have it, mini homemade burgers :) For variety, add cheese and veggies or whatever you like in your own burgers.

The patty tasted a tad on the bland side (though the mustard smelled quite distinct), probably due to the tofu. It doesn't really matter since I can add condiments like ketchup, mayonaise, chilli sauce, just like fast food restaurant. In fact, homemade burgers are more healthy since amount of seasoning can be controlled :D

The bun's texture is close to store-bought (hurray!). After slicing the bun into 2, spread some butter on the surface and lightly toast for a crisp texture. Yum! Even with this size, I need a few bites to finish it. I guess guys may just take 1 or 2 bites? LOL. I guess kids would like it since it's 'their size' of burger.

Party ideas. Make fun and colourful labels, stick them on toothpicks/satay sticks and skewer the toothpicks/satay sticks through the mini burgers. Here I use sticker labels. I guess they would be a crowd pleaser =D

All in all, it takes half a day to prepare and make the burgers. The meat patties can be prepared a day ahead and store in fridge, and use when ready. The buns can also be baked the day before, keep in airtight container and toast them before use.

Tedious process but nothing beats homemade :)