Chicken satay burgers

1. 1

   To make the cucumber pickle, put 350ml/12fl oz water, the star anise, ginger, sugar, vinegar and salt into a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat. Remove the ginger and star anise from the pickling liquid.

2. 2

   Mix the cucumber and red onion thoroughly in a large bowl before decanting into a storage container. Pour the pickling liquid over the prepared vegetables and leave for a few hours or ideally overnight, before draining thoroughly.

3. 3

   To make the satay spice paste, put all the ingredients into a blender and blend to a fine purée. If using a smaller food processor or handheld stick blender, you will have to work in batches, combining the batches once they’re done. Always mix lemongrass with some onion when blending - blitzing lemongrass by itself can be very hard work and you will be left with undesirable, hard fibrous strands. Set aside.

4. 4

   To make the patties, mix the chicken mince thoroughly with the satay spice paste and egg in a large container using a gloved hand. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

5. 5

   To make the peanut sauce, tip the peanuts into a food processor and, using the pulse action, grind until you get a rough, sandy texture.

6. 6

   Add the ground peanuts and the remaining sauce ingredients along with 50ml/2fl oz water to a medium-sized saucepan. Set over a medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring frequently to prevent the sauce at the bottom of the pan from burning. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Set aside.

7. 7

   To make the tomato sambal, put the chillies, garlic and oil into a bowl. Blend using a hand-held blender to a fine purée.

8. 8

   Heat the oil in a small non-stick saucepan over a medium heat. Add the chilli garlic purée and stir-fry for 8 minutes. Add the tomato purée, salt, sugar and 80ml/2½fl oz water. Stir-fry for 2 minutes then remove from the heat.

9. 9

   Once cool, decant into a clean glass jar to store.

10. 10

    Place a large frying pan over a medium-high heat, adding just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.

11. 11

    Using a large ice-cream scoop, scoop out two balls of the chicken mix into the pan and flatten into a patty using a flat spatula. Repeat with the remaining mixture to create 3 more patties. Pan-fry the patties on both sides for around 8 minutes in total, flipping every couple of minutes.

12. 12

    To assemble the burger, cut the buns in half and toast cut-side down. Add enough peanut sauce to cover the base of the bun, then a cooked chicken patty, 2 tablespoons cucumber pickles, 1 tablespoon tomato sambal (or more, to taste) and the bun top, to finish. Serve with chips, if you like.

Per 100 grams

Nutrition values are estimates. - means data is unavailable.