Even if you aren’t a McDonald’s habitué, you are sure to be aware of the Quarter Pounder. It was created by Al Bernardin, a McDonald’s franchisee, in 1971 after spotting a niche for an adult burger with a higher ratio of meat to bun. A year later it was on McDonald’s national American menu, soon spreading to branches all over the world. Thanks to Pulp Fiction, the movie, we all became familiar with the Quarter Pounder’s other names, Hamburger Royale or McRoyal, but most particularly the cheese version, Royale with Cheese.
It’s easy enough to make burgers without any special equipment but I’ve fallen for a modest little gadget called the Quarter Pounder Burger Press, from Lakeland (see here). It comprises three pieces of white plastic. They fit together to mould and press whatever you want to turn into a burger. It could be minced steak or lamb shoulder, duck, chicken, pork, even venison, or finely chopped fish. The result is a neat burger approximately 10cm in diameter.
The kit comes with 100 ‘easy-release’ waxed paper circles, so burgers can be stacked and frozen, just like they are at the supermarket.
Minced chicken or pork is what you need for these light and bright pattie-cum-burgers. Flavoured with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, ginger, chilli and fresh coriander, they are fried, chunkily sliced, and piled over a noodle salad laced with thinly sliced cucumber and fennel, mint and more coriander. A nuoc nam-style dressing with garlic, nam pla, lime juice and sweet chilli sauce sets the flavours singing. The finale is crushed roasted and salted peanuts and a zig-zag of sweet chilli sauce. Bean thread noodles, incidentally, end up transparent. If peanuts are off radar, use cashews instead.
25g finely chopped shallots
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 lemongrass stalk
4 kaffir lime leaves
25g fresh ginger
15g bunch coriander
1 red bird’s-eye chilli
500g organic minced chicken or pork
1 tbsp vegetable oil
For the salad:
100g vermicelli bean thread or rice noodles
125g cucumber
1 small fennel, approx 125g
10g bunch coriander
5g small mint leaves
For the dressing:
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce
For the garnish:
2 tbsp roasted salted peanuts
1 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce
Put the shallots and lime juice into a mixing bowl. Extract the inner lemongrass shoot and finely chop. Cut out the lime leaf spines, make a pile of the leaves, slice into thin strips, then into tiny dice. Peel the ginger and grate very finely. Finely chop the coriander. Split the chilli, scrape away the seeds, slice into thin batons and then into tiny dice.
Crumble the meat over the shallots and scatter with the prepared seasonings. Season lightly with salt. Use your hands to mix and mulch. Divide into four. If using a quarter pounder burger maker, line with a wax disc, add a quarter of the mix, press evenly with your fingers, cover with a second waxed disc, then press to form a neat burger shape. Continue with the remaining mixture. To make the patties by hand, form each quarter of the mix into a disc approximately 10cm diameter × 2cm deep. Keep chilled (up to 24 hours or freeze) until required.
To make the salad, soak the noodles in cold water for 10 minutes until soft enough to cut into manageable lengths (approximately 8cm). Drain, cover with boiling water and leave for 15 minutes to soften. Peel the cucumber, use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds, then slice into thin half-moons. Trim the fennel and halve lengthways. Slice thinly across the halves. Chop the coriander. Drain the soft noodles.
Peel and chop the garlic and crush to a paste. Mix with the remaining dressing ingredients. Add the noodles, mix thoroughly, then add the rest of the salad ingredients. Mix. Place the peanuts in a plastic bag and bash to crumbs with something heavy.
To complete the dish, heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the patties for 3–4 minutes a side, until golden and just cooked through. Slice on the slant into 4 roughly equal pieces. Give the salad a final toss, pile into the middle of four plates or bowls and top with the pattie slices. Scatter with peanuts and a swirl of chilli sauce.