Burger Quest #2 – Pork Burger

I thought I’d try to squeeze in one more burger recipe before the cork goes pop. 🙂 This time, this burger is all pork. Pork burgers are a big thing here because they’re so rare and also not every outlet can do a good pork burger. What constitutes a good pork burger? If you ask me, the pork has to be fresh and off good quality of course, it needs fat to be moist and juicy and it shouldn’t be overcooked or overstuffed with too much mix else you’ll lose the natural taste of the pork entirely.

Since hubster was the only one who got to eat my burger, I asked for his opinion, the conversation went like this;

Me; So how was the pork burger?
Hubster; Okay, it was nice….
Me; Was it nice, NICE…or just okay only?
Hubster; It was good, I prefer to eat things like this at home rather than pay so much $$ outside….
Me; ???? (don’t know what to make of this comment)   😕

Despite the vague rating of my pork burger, there is something that I’m really happy about which is my fried onion rings. I made some improvements from the last time I cooked these rings and this time I can happily say I’m satisfied with the results. They’re crunchy but not so battered that you can’t taste the onions. I’ve always felt that onion rings on fast food joints taste so artificial to the extent I wonder if those onions are actually real.

Like all other kids, my son loves his fries….whenever we feel like a McD meal, he waits anticipating for his share of fries so in his mind…when there’s burgers there’s fries. But with these onion rings, he never once made a squeak about ‘where’s the fries?’ Instead he was chowing down on the rings and eating his share of pork burger sandwich happily.

I took Swee San’s advice this time and did not add salt to the mix first. I only salted them during the cooking process. It did make the meat juicier and there is also this tendency to over-salt because you’re just sprinkling it on the surface. But I like that my burger was dripping natural juices when I held it in my hands rather than dripping grease. It sounds a bit messy but it’s a good-messy.

Of course, I must show my customary cross-section view….

Print Recipe

Pork Burger

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: burger, fast food from home, onion rings, patties, pork

Ingredients

• Burger buns
• Mayo
• Salad
• Sliced Tomatoes
• Butter
• Cheddar cheese

Pork Patties;

• 250 gms ground pork with some fat in it
• 1 green pepper stem and seeds removed
• 1 large white onion minced
• Black pepper
• Salt
• Italian seasoning
• Olive oil

Instructions

• Knead the ground pork to give it a gooey texture.
• Mince the prepped onion and green pepper.
• Heat frying pan with a little olive oil. Cook the onion and pepper till rather dry but not browning. I think this brings out the aroma of the pepper and onions giving it a sweeter taste.
• Let it cool before adding it to the ground pork.
• Season with black pepper and Italian seasoning. Don't add salt first.
• Leave it to infuse overnight or at least 3 hours in the fridge.
• When you're ready to cook, heat a frying pan with a little oil. Shape the patty to the size of your palm and about 2 cm thick. Press it down slightly in the middle.
• Before cooking it on the pan, sprinkle some salt and cook it salt side down for 3 mins on medium heat. Salt the uncooked side before flipping it over to sear for another minute and a half.
• Put cheese on top and turn off the heat. Put a lid on to melt the cheese.
• Butter your buns and assemble it according to your liking.
• Eat with onion rings.

Print Recipe

Onion Rings

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: onions, vegetables, with burgers

Ingredients

• White onions cut about 8mm thick rings and separated
• 1/2 cup flour
• Panko breadcrumbs optional
• Oil for frying
• Batter;
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Water
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Italian seasoning

Instructions

• Mix all the dry seasonings; salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning with the flour and baking powder. Whisk to mix.
• Break the egg into the flour mixture. Add water and stir till you have a batter that is the consistency of thick cream.
• Coat the onion rings in the 1/2 cup flour first, shake off excess and then dump them into the batter. Make sure the onions are coated thoroughly in the batter before coating them with panko breadcrumbs.
• Heat oil in pot till frying temp, drop the batter-panko coated onion rings one-by-one into the hot oil. Fry till they're brown and crispy. Drain on a rack.
• Eat with ketchup or chilli sauce.

 READ ABOUT BURGER QUEST #1

Beef-Pork Burger