Instagram gives me a lot of inspirations especially when it comes to cooking. One time I was scrolling through other people's cooking videos, and one caught my attention. The person used ground chicken mixed with corn and corn starch, perhaps other ingredients and sear into patties.
I was like that could work! So I started imagining what would go well with ground chicken patties. Since ground chicken can be on the soft side, I figured adding mountain yam cubes should bring a slight crunch to the patties. Then I turned that idea into reality, and it has been tested and proven that this recipe works. Not only served as a side dish, also great as an otsumami, something that goes well with drinks (don't drink and drive).
Mountain yam, shio kombu, and ground chicken patties 山藥塩昆布雞肉餅 -
Ingredients (about 8 medium patties)?
- 310 grams ground chicken
- 3/4 loosely packed cup peeled and cubed mountain yam
- 3/4 loosely packed cup shio kombu
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Some dried seaweed flakes
How?
Peel and cube the mountain yam. Transfer that to a larger mixing bowl.
Also add to the bowl, shio kombu, ground chicken, and corn starch. Mix till evenly blended. Note that the mixture is really sticky, so perhaps wear gloves or use spoons to do the job.
Take out a pan and drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Switch to medium heat and wait till the oil gets warm. Use a spoon and scoop the chicken mixture to the pan. The shape doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, it might look like a small mound instead.
Do not move the chicken in the beginning. Just let them sear till the bottom turns golden. Then it'll be ok to flip them or change sides and continue to sear till golden brown.
Some mountain yam cubes will fall out of the patties, which is totally fine. Simply let the cubes sear on the side. Pick them out earlier to prevent burning and serve along the patties later on.
When ready, scoop out the chicken patties and transfer to serving plate. Dust with dried seaweed flakes before serving.
If you don't like it too oily, you can let the chicken patties rest on top of the paper towel lined on the plate first to absorb excess oil.
One very important thing, handling mountain yam might cause itchy hands for some people. That's the case for me too. You can wear a glove when peeling and cutting the mountain yam. I was too lazy and worked barehanded, just have to endure that itchy feeling for the next 10 minutes or so.
Other recipes using shio kombu 塩昆布:
- Sashimi grade tuna otsumami served with nori sheet
- Pan-fried chicken with shio kombu 香煎塩昆布雞腿肉
- Canned tuna cold dish with bean sprouts and shio kombu