Thai Chicken Patties

A perfect monsoon season meal, with easy to find ingredients and a light refreshing taste. These chicken patties are not too time consuming and are fairly kid-friendly - providing you adjust the amount of chilli!

To make gluten-free, omit the breadcrumbs or use a small amount of rice flour or gluten-free oats in replacement.

Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients

• 500g minced chicken
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3/4" piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• juice of one small lemon
• 1/4c cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 - 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• *1/4 c breadcrumbs or panko. This can be omitted, but the patties turn out a little wet.
• *1 chilli finely chopped (optional, I omit when serving to kids)
• Vegetable oil for frying.
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

1. Put chicken into a large bowl. Drain any excess water or juice.
2. Combine onion, garlic, ginger and chilli (if using) in a food processor or a blender attachment to make into a rough paste. If you don't have a blender or food processor, you can still make the patties, but chop the ingredients as finely as possible.
3. Mix paste, breadcrumbs, egg, fish sauce, lemon and cilantro into the chicken. Drain excess liquid. 
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Form mixture into patties, at most 3" wide and 3/4" thick. I like to make 'mini' ones for little kids/babies as they are easier to grasp.
6. I also like to make these ahead, and after forming the patties I chill them in the refrigerator for a few hours before cooking, although this is NOT necessary.
7. Heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
8. Cook patties 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked through. While cooking, use the flipper or spatula to flatten the patties and squeeze out excess liquid.
9. Serve hot or cold and garnish with cilantro sprigs. They are best with a sauce, such as a Thai sweet chilli sauce, or perhaps a yoghurt mint sauce. I also like to serve with a thai vermicelli noodle salad.