Yummy herbed-infused kofta burgers. Instead of ketchup, we use a lemony tahini.

Chef’s tip: Chilling the meat makes it easier to form patties. If you want all your burgers to be of a standard size, use an ice cream scoop.

Ingredients

Burger:
½ pound ground lamb
½ pound lean, ground beef
¼ cup panko breadcrumbs, soaked with water, squeezed dry
½ small red onion, grated, and squeezed to remove liquid (reserve the other half for condiment)
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ egg
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1½ teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground fennel
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½  teaspoon ground chili/ cayenne

¼ cup parsley, chopped
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
2 Tablespoons mint, chopped
½ cup roasted pistachios or almonds, chopped finely
¼ cup crumbled feta
2 Tablespoons canola oil

Tahini:
1 small shallot, peeled and quartered
1 small clove garlic, peeled
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ Tablespoon cumin, ground
4 Tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup tahini paste, at room temperature, stirred if separated
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Cilantro leaves
1 tomatoes, sliced
3 pieces of Iceberg lettuce
½ small red onion, sliced
10 mini brioche buns

Preparing the burger patties
1.    Combine the burger ingredients together. Chill for 5 minutes in the freezer.
2.    Mince the parsley, cilantro, mint and chop the nuts.  Mix into chilled burger mix.
3.    Form meat into golf ball size balls. Using your finger, make a hole into the patty, add a small half teaspoon of feta, and form the meat around the feta.  Gently form into 2-inch patties.  Using your thumb, make a small dimple in the middle of the patty.  Place on a slightly oil baking sheet.
Cooking the burger
4.    Preheat oven to 375°F
5.    Heat a fry pan over medium-high heat.  Working in batches, sear burgers 1 minute on each sides, drain on paper towels then transfer to a sheet pan.  Transfer the burgers to the oven to finish cooking, about 4 minutes for medium rare.
Preparing the tahini
6.    Mix together all ingredients in a blender, and pulse till it forms a smooth paste
Assembly
7.    Split and toast buns.  Assemble burgers with tomatoes, onions, lettuce and a smear of tahini sauce.

Serves: Makes 10 mini burgers

The Advieh is a Persian spice mix of cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, cloves and rose petals.

Meatballs:
½ cup long grain rice
½ cup yellow split pea, soaked 1 hour
2 cups water + ½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ lb ground lamb
½ lb ground beef
1 egg white
1 Tablespoon yogurt
1 small red onion, grated, and squeezed to remove liquid
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup parsley, chopped
1 cup dill, chopped
1 cup chives, chopped
1 cup cilantro, chopped
½ Tablespoon kosher salt
1 Tablespoon Advieh (Persian spice mix: cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, rose petals)
Some oil for the baking tray
Sauce:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 cup crushed tomatoes (or 2 fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped)
1 Tablespoon sumac
½ teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup beef or chicken broth
Thickener:
1 cup parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch saffron threads
½ cup blanched almonds

½ cup yogurt
1 clove garlic, minced

Preparing the meatballs
1.    Bring the rice and split peas together in 2 cups of salted water to boil.  Once it has boiled, cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.
2.    Combine the remaining meatball ingredients (lamb, beef, egg white, yogurt, red onion, garlic, chopped herbs, Advieh, salt and pepper and the cooled rice and split pea mix) together until combined.   Using your hands, form into balls about 1 ½ inch diameter.  Place on a lightly oiled baking tray, and bake in a 400°F oven until brown about 12 minutes.
Preparing the sauce
3.    In a heavy bottom, oven proof pot, heat olive oil on medium high.  Add sliced onions and cook till golden brown, about 7 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients (tomatoes, garlic, sumac, tumeric, saffron, salt and pepper).  Pour in the broth.  Bring to boil.  Taste and add salt if needed.
4.    Transfer the meatballs back into the pot, add more broth if necessary to cover the meatballs, and bake covered, in a 400 °F oven (alternatively simmer on low on stove top) for 10 minutes. stirring once or twice gently.
5.    In the meantime, put the parsley, garlic, salt, saffron, and almonds in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until well chopped. Add mixture to meatball pot after 10 minutes, stir gently, and return to the oven and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes.
6.    Mix the yogurt with the garlic, drizzle over the meatballs and serve.

Serves: 6

Delicious Gujerati style of curry, with lamb kofta aka meatballs. A flavor explosion experience.

Cook’s tip: The bread crumbs make the meatballs tender. Add the cream/ yogurt at the end so that it does not break.

Meatballs:
1 lb ground lamb
1 egg white
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground fennel
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon ginger, grated
1 serrano, minced
1 Tablespoon cilantro stems, chopped
½ yellow onion, grated, squeezed to yield ½ cup
½ cup panko bread crumbs, soaked in ¼ cup water or chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Some oil for the baking tray

Curry:
3 Tablespoons ghee
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
8 shallots, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 inch ginger, peeled, grated

1 Tablespoon ground coriander
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
½ teaspoon cayenne
10 cloves
10 cardamon pods
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 14-oz can crushed canned tomatoes
1 pinch saffron threads
1 cup heavy cream / greek yogurt
1 cup water
½ cup cilantro, chopped

Preparing the meatballs
1.    Mix together the meatball ingredients (lamb, egg white, coriander, fennel, garlic, ginger, Serrano, cilantro stems, onion, bread crumbs, salt and black pepper).
2.    Using your hands, form into balls about 1 ½ inch diameter.  Place on a lightly oiled baking tray, and bake in a 400°F oven until brown about 12 minutes.  Alternatively, brown meatballs in a large saute pan.
Preparing the curry
3.    In a heavy bottom, oven proof pot, heat ghee on medium high.  Add cumin seeds and bay leaves and fry for about 30 seconds or until the cumin seeds pop.
4.    Add chopped shallots, and cook till translucent, about 3 minutes, then add the garlic and ginger.  Saute under medium heat for about 3 minutes until golden brown and fragrant.
5.    Add remaining dry spices (coriander, cumin, tumeric, cayenne, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon and salt).  Continue to fry for another 5 minutes until the oil separates.
6.    Add the crushed tomatoes and saffron, and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt if needed.
7.    Transfer the meatballs back into the pot, add more broth if necessary to cover the meatballs, and bake covered, in a 400 °F oven (alternatively simmer on low on stove top) for 10 minutes. stirring once or twice gently. Stir in the cream or yogurt.
8.    Remove whole spices and mix in chopped cilantro just before serving.
Serves: 4

Bouncy meatballs! My good aunt, Kheng Cher, shared this recipe with me – her secret ingredient is to add the egg (you must stir in in one directions, she says) to make the fish ball puff up during frying. The skin then collapses to a chewy bite, while the meat inside remains bouncy.

Very few people really make this at home anymore since you can buy ready-made fish paste quite easily. But there’s nothing better than making your own fish paste, and tasting the sweetness of unadulterated fish balls.

Chef’s tip: A lot of TLC is needed to make the fish ball. First, it is preferred to chop the meat with a cleaver by hand than pulsing it in a food processor so that you can slowly get to the right consistency of paste. Also, make sure to slap the fish paste to a round, shiny, blob! This is the step that determines how bouncy the ball will be.

Ingredients:
Dipping sauce:
3 Tablespoons Asian sweet chili sauce
1 Tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Meatballs:
1 ½ lb whole Spanish mackerel (yellowtail, haddock, pike, bluefish)  yielding 1 lb flesh
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 cup water
1 Tablespoon kosher salt

1 egg

3 cups canola oil

Preparing the dipping sauce
1.    Mix all dipping sauce ingredients together (chile, ketchup, garlic, ginger, lime juice, sugar and salt).  Set aside.
Preparing the meatballs
2.    Using the whole fish, starting from the tail end and working towards the head, slice off the top half of the fish flesh.  Repeat with the other side of the fish.  Using a spoon, scrape off any remaining fish meat from the bones.    Place the fish fillet, skin side down over an inverted bowl and remove any bones with a tweezer.  Place the fish fillet, still skin side down, on a cutting board and using a spoon, scrape out the fish flesh.
3.    Place the fish on a cutting board and sprinkle on 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and cornstarch.  Using the blunt side of the cleaver, chop the meat, while smashing/dragging the meat against the cutting board till it becomes a paste a shade lighter. (Or place the fish meat in a food processor and pulse about a dozen times till it becomes a paste a shade lighter)
4.    In a small bowl, mix together the water and salt.  Set aside.
5.    Transfer the meat into the bowl drop in the egg and stir in one directions to incorporate the egg.
6.    Wet your hands with the salt water and grab the fish mixture and slap the meat against the side of the bowl.  Repeat until the fish comes together and forms a shiny and firm ball.  Wet your hands continuously with the salt water as you work.
7.    Using your hands, form small golf ball 1 inch size fish balls, coating it with the salt water as you work.  Place the fish balls on a baking sheet.
Frying the fish ball
8.    In wok, heat about 2 inches of oil.  When it reaches 360°F, quickly pat dry each fish ball and drop it into the hot oil.  Fry until it becomes a golden brown and the fish ball floats on top of the oil.
9.    The fish ball will puff up during the frying but will cool and collapse when cooled.  Serve hot with the dipping sauce.

Serves: 6

Thailand’s breakfast for champions.

A comfort food, the soup makes a wonderful meal. Besides being a popular breakfast item in Thailand (hold the bacon, give me pork balls!), it is also their version of chicken soup for the days when one is under the weather.

Chef’s tip: Keep any excess garlic oil in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Garlic oil:
¼ cup canola oil
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
Meatballs:
½ lb ground pork
½ teaspoon salt
A pinch of white pepper
Soup:
6 cups chicken broth
3-4 Tablespoons fish sauce
1½ Tablespoons preserved radish, soaked, chopped
2 cups lightly packed cooked jasmine rice

¼ cup green onions, white parts only, finely chopped
¼ cup, cilantro, finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground white pepper

Preparing the garlic oil
1.    In a small pot, heat the oil and garlic and fry till the garlic is light golden brown.  Remove from heat and it will continue to cook to golden brown. Set aside.
Preparing the meatballs
2.    Mix together the meatball ingredients (pork, salt and pepper)
Preparing the soup
3.    In a large pot, bring soup ingredients (chicken stock, fish sauce, radish and rice) to boil
4.    Grab a small handful of the pork mixture and gently squeeze out a small amount of the meat between your index finger and thumb.  Using a spoon, scoop out the meatball and drop into the soup.  When all the meat is done, boil for another 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.
5.    Scatter the green onions and cilantro.  Add all the garlic oil and white pepper.

Serves: 4

They call it Lion’s Head because the meatballs are ye big with manes of soft, tender napa cabbage…looking like a lion. Seriously, in Shanghai, the meatballs are the size of a tennis ball – let’s call that a quarter pounder meatball.

Chef’s tip: Slowly braise or steam to get a tender, melt-in-your-mouth meatballs. If you have a small claypot, braise the meatballs in the claypot and serve directly from it.

Meatballs:
1 lb ground pork
1 egg white
¼ cup green onions, white parts only, finely chopped
¼ cup waterchestnuts, drained and diced finely,1/8 inch cubes
1 Tablespoons ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoons light soy sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

½ cup cornstarch for dusting meatballs
½ cup canola oil

Sauce:
2 cloves garlic, lightly smashed, leaving it still whole
5 slices ginger
2 cups chicken stock
1 Tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1 Tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
½ Tablespoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

1 small napa cabbage leaves, about 8 pieces, cut into 3X1 inch pieces
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch + 2 Tablespoons water (optional)

Preparing the meatballs
1.    Mix together the meatball ingredients (pork, egg white, chopped green onions, waterchestnuts, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, cornstarch, salt and pepper.) Place the mixture into the freezer and chill 5 minutes.
2.    Form meatballs by hand into 2-inch rounds. Dust lightly with cornstarch.  Set on a baking tray. You should have about 8 meatballs. (For a classic serving, the meatballs should be the size of a tennis ball, in that case, you should get 4 meatballs).
3.    Heat about ½ inch of canola oil in a large sauté pan. Brown the meatballs over medium-high heat, in batches, until golden brown on all sides.  Set aside.
Preparing the sauce
4.    Using the same pan, remove all but 2 tablespoons oil.  Heat on high, add ginger and garlic. Fry for 10 seconds.
5.    Add chicken stock and bring to a boil, then add remaining sauce ingredients (Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar and salt). Pour the chicken stock mixture over the meatballs.
6.    Gently transfer the meatballs into the pan. Add more stock if needed to cover the meatballs entirely.  Cover and simmer (or steamed or baked 400°F) for 20 minutes.
7.    Scatter the cabbage on top and continue simmering for another 20 minutes.  The sauce should be reduced to half.
8.    If you prefer a thicker sauce, transfer the sauce into a small sauce pan and reduce the sauce further to a nappe consistency, or add the cornstarch and water slurry to thicken.
9.    Finish with sesame oil.

Serves: 4