Malaysian spiced burgers with tomato-tamarind sambal
- Gurdeep Loyal
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Makes 4 large burgers
Easy
Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 25 mins
plus chilling
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This Malay-influenced burger is dressed with a punchy sambal made from chillies, garlic, ketchup and tamarind
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Malaysian food is a vibrant cross-cultural (Peranakan) cuisine, with significant influences from Indian, Thai and Indonesian cultures. This intercultural complexity is most deliciously found in its street food, from satay and laksa through to roti canai and Malaysian spiced burgers.
Mandy Yin of Sambal Shiok is famous for her satay burger – a spiced chicken thigh patty with nutty peanut-tamarind sauce, fiery chilli sambal and pickles, served on a brioche bun. In Kuala Lumpur, one of the most famous burgers you’ll encounter is the Ramly burger – a curry powder and soy spiced patty wrapped in a very thin egg omelette (like a parcel) and smothered in Maggi Seasoning and chilli sauce with shredded lettuce, onions and mayo.
The key to creating that signature Malaysian flavour at home is first in the spicing of your patty. In Ranie Saidi’s The Malay Cook*, he highlights “the four siblings” – star anise, clove, cinnamon and cardamom – as the core spices to turn to. As a quick hack, you can use chinese five-spice powder and an extra pinch of ground cardamom, which I’ve used in this recipe, combined with curry powder in homage to the original Ramly burger.*
Along with spices, it’s important to properly balance any sweet, salty, umami and spicy aromatics that you add – ensuring ingredients like zingy lemongrass and salty soy are countered with things like savoury fish sauce and a little sugar. Always add something fresh, like chopped spring onions or coriander, to the patties for essential herby brightness. You can add a grating of galangal and ginger for an extra warming note, or even some chilli flakes for a more intense, burning heat.
A punchy sambal is also key – made from a base of blitzed chillies and oil – and you can liven it up with tomatoes or mango for a fruity note, tamarind or lime for tang or even anchovies for a little funk. The combination of tamarind and tomato in this sambal is a delicious addition to any barbecue, as it can amplify the flavour of charred burgers, hot dogs, flame-grilled chicken thighs or fish.
One of the best Malaysian burgers out there is at the Duda Diner in Nunhead, London. The Duda burger has a spiced beef patty that’s slathered in Sarawak peppercorn chilli sauce and the all-important addition of a fried egg. The layering of all those flavours is what makes it so very special to eat and so wonderfully Malaysian.
Malaysian spiced burgers with tomato-tamarind sambal recipe
Ingredients
Nutrition
-
500g chicken mince (about 5-6% fat)
-
6 large garlic cloves
minced to a paste
-
1 tbsp lemongrass paste
-
1 tbsp medium curry powder
-
1½ tsp chinese five-spice powder
-
1 tbsp onion granules
-
1 tbsp soy sauce
-
1 tbsp fish sauce
-
2 spring onions
finely chopped
-
2 tsp soft light brown sugar
-
15g coriander
finely chopped
-
4 brioche burger buns
split and toasted
SAMBAL
-
195g red chillies
stalks removed
-
4 large garlic cloves
-
100ml vegetable oil
plus extra for brushing
-
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
-
1 tbsp tomato purée
-
2 tbsp tamarind paste
-
1 tbsp soft light brown sugar
TO SERVE
- sliced red onion, pickles, coriander leaves and/or fried eggs
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal621
- fat34g
- saturates5g
- carbs46g
- sugars20g
- fibre3g
- protein31g
- salt5.2g
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Method
-
step 1
Put the chicken, garlic, lemongrass, curry powder, five-spice, onion granules, soy, fish sauce, spring onions, sugar and coriander in a large bowl and, using your hands (wearing disposable gloves) or a large spoon, mix everything together until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Cover and chill for 1 hr.
-
step 2
Meanwhile, to make the sambal, blitz the chillies, garlic and oil in a blender until smooth, then pour into a deep non-stick frying pan with 100ml of water and gently fry for 12 mins, stirring continuously, until much of the liquid has evaporated. Add the ketchup, tomato purée, tamarind, sugar and 2½ tsp of salt, and continue to cook for 3-4 mins until thickened, adding a splash of water if it seems too thick. Taste for seasoning, adding more sugar, salt or tamarind, if needed. Remove from the heat.
-
step 3
Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Remove the spiced chicken from the fridge and shape into four large patties that are just a little wider than the buns – it will be quite a loose mixture but that’s okay. Brush lightly with oil, then put on a wire rack set over a baking tray lined with foil. Cook in the oven for 24-26 mins, turning halfway through, until the burgers are cooked through but still juicy. Finish off over the embers of a barbecue, if you like, for an extra-smoky burger.
-
step 4
Serve on the buns topped with generous dollops of the sambal and whatever extra toppings you like, such as red onion, pickles, coriander leaves and a fried egg.
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Authors
Gurdeep Loyal
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