In our home, making a quick meal often involves some ground meat, a pinch of herbs, diced onions, ginger or garlic and finally some rough hand-shaping before it is thrown down on the pan. It is then christened burger or kebab. Last night was one of those evenings, except; the predictability of ground chicken was getting dull. A fleeting thought was to use crab but again, the density felt unappealing. The mind and palate feeling a bit weighed down by all this winter business wanted to take a short flight somewhere fun and flirty – perhaps the South. Are you thinking shrimp?

 

 

Shrimp is such a wonderful protein to work with. Treat her well and she will show you her ‘lychee’ side; sweet and fleshy. Overcook her and she will seize up like rubber. With such attributes, very little work needs to be done on her. I decided on shrimp burgers. Chives work really well with shrimps adding brightness in flavor and a hint of an oniony taste but without the heavy handedness. The burgers are gently held together with a coating of breadcrumbs and mayo but if you want a tighter patty, feel free to add more breadcrumb as a binder. I served the shrimp burger on sweet and delicate challah bread – a perfect suitor given the delicate flavor of the shrimp don’t you think? Barely 6 minutes later (including prep time) and you will have a juicy and flavorful burger in your hands.

 

Recipe for Shrimp Burgers

Ingredients

 Shrimp Patties

1 ½ lbs. medium shrimp, shelled, deveined, and chopped
in to ½ cm pieces

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. Tabasco

1 tsp. chopped chives

Zest of 1 lemons

Salt and freshly ground 
black pepper

1 tbsp. per burger

1 cup dry bread crumbs for dredging and 1 tsp. for burger mixture

8 slices of Challah bread

Butter (to butter challah bread)

Chive Mayo

½ tsp. of chives

2 tbsp. mayo

½ tsp. lemon juice

 Method

1. Combine shrimp, mayonnaise, onion powder, Worcestershire, tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste and bread crumbs into a medium bowl and mix well. Set aside for if you have time for 10 minutes
2. Heat the oil on medium/high in a sauté pan
3. Lay out 1 cup of breadcrumbs on to a plate. Portion the mixture in to 4 and shape in to patties. Gently dredge patties in to the breadcrumbs on both sides and fry until golden. Cover the pan with a lid when cooking the second side to cook the shrimp through. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel
4. Combine the chives, may and lemon juice.
5. Butter the sliced challah bread and toast on a pan on both sides, spread lightly with chive mayo and serve with burger