Burgers are one of the few meals that every member of our family gets excited about. It’s not always easy to find dinners that appease all our different tastes and preferences, but there’s something magical about putting tasty things between two halves of a (gluten-free) bun, smothered in sauces, relish or mayonnaise… or if you’re me, all three (!) that is just so damn delicious, and loved by all.
I’m really not even fussed on what fills the burger (fried egg, tofu, pattie, all good!) but I wanted to share this delicious, protein and flavour-packed kūmara and tempeh burger for your consideration the next time you have a craving for burgers.
These patties use roasted kūmara (sweet potato), specifically the most common variety (here in NZ), the red (or more purple really) skinned kūmara known as Owairaka. It has a firmer texture, so holds the patties together better than some of the softer textured kūmara would. That said, if you only have one of the other varieties and you eat eggs, I’d just add an egg or two to the mixture and that should help to hold them together a little better. I’ve used leftover cooked brown rice, but cooked leftover white rice would also work, if that’s what you have at hand. Whenever I cook brown rice I purposely cook more than I need so I can leftovers for dishes like this.
Now tempeh, I love the stuff but I know many people are a little intimidated by it, not knowing quite what to do with it. If you’re new to it, you find it at most supermarkets (next to the tofu) or health food stores. It’s a fermented soy bean product from Indonesia. It’s most often sliced thinly and deep fried before being added to dishes such as stir fries –I have a beautiful version of my favourite dish to eat in Bali in my latest book, that uses fried tempeh, green beans and tons of aromatics and sauces– but you can also just look at it as a mild tasting protein, to add to all sorts of different dishes. Here it’s blitzed until finely ground before stirring through the pattie mixture. You don’t even really taste it in the end product, but it adds some heft and goodness, which I like.
If you’re someone who likes to get ahead on prep, the patties can be prepared in advance and actually will hold together better if they’ve had a little chilling time in the fridge before cooking. They’ll keep for a couple of days in the fridge or you can also freeze them, for up to 3 months. Simply defrost overnight in the fridge before pan-frying.
Like many of you I’m sure (right?), I’ve lost all motivation this past month since we went into lockdown, so apologies for the slow sharing on this news, but I’m stoked to let you know I’m doing an event at F.A.W.C this year in Napier, Tuesday 9th November 6.30-9pm. Check out my EVENTS page for more info. Tickets went on sale today for those who had pre-registered and go on sale tomorrow for everyone else.
Kūmara tempeh burgers
Ingredients
- 1 medium (approx. 300g) kūmara (sweet potato) un-peeled + cut into bite-sized chunks (see NOTE above)
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds or ground cumin
- olive oil
- 1 250g packet tempeh roughly chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 red or green chilli finely chopped (or use a pinch of chilli flakes if you don’t have fresh)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 cup leftover cooked medium-grain brown rice
- 1 teaspoon white (shiro) miso paste mixed with 1 teaspoon warm water
- handful coriander (cilantro) leaves roughly chopped
- 4 burger buns gluten-free if needed
- mayonnaise vegan, if needed
- tomato, relish to serve
- sliced avocado or salad greens to serve
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 200C (400F). Place kūmara (sweet potato) onto a tray, scatter over cumin seeds, drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well to coat. Roast20-25 minutes or until the kūmara is tender and golden. Remove from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
- Heat a small frying pan over medium-high heat, add a little olive oil and cook the onion, while stirring for 1-2 minutes or until tender, add garlic, chilli and turmeric and cook for a further 30 seconds. Blend tempeh in a food processor until finely ground.
- Transfer roasted kūmara to a large bowl and roughly mash with a fork. Add ground tempeh, cooked brown rice, miso mixed with water and coriander and using your hands, mix well, squishing it altogether until it holds together. Shape into 4 patties, transfer to a tray and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- To cook, heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan and cook over medium heat until the underside is deeply golden, before carefully flipping and cooking the other side. Serve in a lightly toasted bun with mayonnaise, tomato relish and salad greens or avocado (or both!).
