Thai Style Chicken Patties are not only low-fat they are delish. They go perfectly with Rice Noodle Salad with Mango Dressing
The making of Thai Style Chicken Patties
As I was looking through an old Best of Gourmet cookbook, I came upon this meal plan where they combined these Thai Style Chicken Patties with a Rice Noodle Salad. Loving the Thai-influenced flavors, with the added plus of being easy and low-fat, I thought "There's something I could do with this". The original recipe just seemed a little flat. Well, it was written in 2003 and we have come a long way in culinary skills and adding worldwide influences to our food, so I did a bit of modification and came up with a dinner that had a deeper flavor, was still easy, AND still low fat.
And, as it turns out at the end of the day, without the added bread crumbs, it is also gluten-free. Added plus.
The Chicken in the Patties can be...
These Thai Style Chicken Patties call for chopping chicken breast in the food processor until coarsely chopped. If you don't want to do this, you could purchase ground chicken, just make sure it's all white chicken breasts. Or at least make sure it is if you want the calories to remain low. If you don't care, then you could make this with some ground dark meat or even a combination of both. Dark meat generally has more flavor than boneless skinless breast meat, but with all the flavor I added to the meat, I think the breast meat is just fine.
Adding FLAVOR and Texture
I added some lime juice, fish sauce, lemongrass, and ginger to round out the original recipe. The meat seemed a little soft so a touch of panko bread crumbs was added to give a bit of texture (if going gluten-free, omit this).
Sticking it to the stick
The original recipe also has you putting the patties onto a bamboo skewer, three per and then cooking them in a skillet. I think that was just some art director's orgasm for the photo opportunity. I see no value in adding a stick to the recipe. But if you want to, then go ahead and skewer the patties onto a bamboo stick.
I always say, whatever floats your boat.
Thai Style Chicken Pattiesserved with Rice Noodle Salad with Mango Dressing
Thai Style Chicken Patties
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1 ½ inch pieces, or 1 pound ground chicken
- Juice and zest from 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained
- ½ cup chopped green onion
- 1 jalapeño pepper chopped, seeded if desired
- 1 tablespoon chopped lemongrass when working with lemongrass, remove the tough outer layer, then slice the lower tender part discarding the tougher top
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup panko or as needed
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil I used rice bran oil
Instructions
- Using on/off pulses, pulse the chicken in the work bowl of a food processor along with the lime zest, juice, and fish sauce until coarsely chopped. Remove to a large bowl.
- Add the water chestnuts, green onion, jalapeño, lemongrass, and ginger to the food processor's bowl. Chop finely using on/off pulses. Add to the chicken along with the cilantro, panko, and a bit of salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix well.
- Take a small teaspoon full of the mixture and form into a ball, then set in the microwave for 30 seconds or until cooked; taste for seasonings, adjust with salt and pepper if needed.
- Form mixture into patties.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat until hot, add the oil then the patties. Cook, turning once until browned and cooked through; about 6 minutes per side. Serve hot.
Leave a Reply