Thai-Style Catfish Burgers

Thai-Style Catfish Burgers with Shrimp and flavored with shallots, chiles, lime, ginger, and garlic served wrapped in tender lettuce and garnished with basil, mint, and cilantro.

I love the Thai flavors in these Catfish Burgers. They are so fresh and light. The burgers are held together by a mousse of shrimp, seasoning, and an egg white. No breading. The trick is to keep everything cold when preparing the patties so that they hold together while cooking.

My favorite way to serve these burgers is wrapped in soft red leaf lettuce and garnished with shredded basil, mint, and cilantro. While you might feel so virtuous having such a lean meal, these are also delicious. This recipe makes four burgers, and I pretty much hid the leftovers so I could keep them to myself. These things were jump-up-and-down-I-can't-believe-I-made-these amazing. Seriously.

The only issue I had with this recipe was that they stuck to my ceramic non-stick pan, and left a lot of the browned edges behind. Next time I'll try a little more oil, as reflected in the recipe below, or maybe try them in the air fryer. Either way, these burgers are so darn good.

If you can't find catfish, you can substitute tilapia or flounder. For the fish sauce, I highly recommend using Red Boat. It's also a wonderful flavoring in soups and stews.

It's Fish Friday, an event hosted by Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Once a month, we post fish recipes based on a theme. This month's theme is patties. After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the fish patty/burger recipes.

And try these Thai-Style Catfish Burgers. Each bite will make you smile because they are so good.

burgers, fish, Thai

Fish, main, burgers

Thai

Yield: 4 servingsAuthor: Karen

Thai-Style Catfish Burgers

Thai-Style Catfish Burgers with Shrimp and flavored with shallots, chiles, lime, ginger, and garlic served wrapped in tender lettuce and garnished with basil, mint, and cilantro.

ingredients

Catfish Burgers

• 10 ounces medium raw shrimp, shelled, deveined, and chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced shallots
• 1 to 2 Thai chiles, minced 
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, plus more for frying
• 1 large egg white, beaten until frothy
• salt to taste
• 1 pound catfish fillets, chilled in the freezer for about 20 minutes
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

For serving

• Tender lettuce leaves such as red leaf, Boston, or Bibb
• Basil, mint, and cilantro leaves, shredded. 

instructions

1. Place a medium bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice water. 
2. Place your food processor blade in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Once it's cold, in the bowl of your food processor, add the shrimp, shallot, chiles, lime zest, sugar, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, and 1 tablespoon of the egg white. Add a bit of salt, but not too much. Pulse until you have a thick paste. Scrape the paste into the cold bowl (that's in the larger bowl) and spread the paste thinly so it will chill. 
3. Cut the catfish fillets into a 1/3 inch dice. Add the catfish, the scallions, and the cilantro to the shrimp mixture and fold it together. 
4. Shape the fish mixture into four 3/4 inch thick patties. Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a nonstick pan, and fry the patties about 5 minute per side. They should be firm when done. 
5. To serve, put the burgers on a platter, and have a separate platter of lettuce leaves and herbs. Put the burger into a lettuce leaf and sprinkle with the herbs, and wrap it up before eating. 
6. These burgers make fabulous leftovers. Just reheat in the oven or microwave. 

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2018/07/thai-style-catfish-burgers.html

Recipe adapted from Fish Without a Doubt: 250 Simple Seafood Recipes

An InLinkz Link-up