Tofu Burger 豆腐汉堡包

Bit Bit wanted to make something special for dinner, and since Pig also has to eat it, it must be vegetarian too. There is some wholemeal bread left, so something like sandwich will sound good. In the end, Bit Bit decided on tofu burger 豆腐汉堡包.

This dish took about 1.5 hours, including preparation of ingredients.

Things that Bit Bit found out about tofu burger:

• As Bit Bit did not add any flour or powder to let the tofu mixture stick together, the tofu patties have to be handled carefully as they are quite soft.
• One can add any sauce that they prefer to be in the tofu burger, just choose anything according to one's preference. Bit Bit likes the sauce to be something sour and slight sweet, while Pig prefers sweet chilli sauce.
• One can add any vegetable into the tofu patty according to their preference, or just use up the leftover vegetables in the fridge.
• Although the tofu is mashed up to be made into a patty, while cooking over heat, the tofu will 'close up' together so it would not be as fragile before cooking.
• Tofu burger is a nice healthy dish.

Ingredients that Bit Bit used for Tofu Burger:

1. Wholemeal Bread - 8 Slices
2. Tau Kwa (Firm Beancurd) - 1 Piece
3. Cabbage - 1/2 Cup (About 1 big leaf)
4. Carrot - 1/2 Medium Whole
5. Red Chilli - 1 Whole
6. Lettuce - About 8 leaves
7. Sweet Sauce - 2 Tbsp
8. Vinegar - 2 Tbsp
9. Sesame Oil - 1 Tbsp
10. Salt - A Pinch
11. Pepper - A Pinch
12. Canola Oil - 1 Tbsp

Method that Bit Bit used to make Tofu Burger:

1. Use a cup as a mold to cut out circle shapes from each slice of wholemeal bread. Repeat to get 8 round pieces of bread.  This will be the burger bread.
2. Use the leftover bread from the molding to make bread crumbs.
3. Heat up a pan and toast the leftover bread till it browns slightly.
4. Put the toasted leftover bread into a plastic bag and crush.
5. After crushing, tear the toasted leftover bread into tiny pieces.
6. Toast the tiny pieces of leftover bread again and put the bread crumbs in a small bowl.
7. Wash the cabbage and dice.
8. Wash and remove the skin of the carrot, and dice.
9. Wash the red chilli, cut off the head of the chilli, remove the seeds inside, and cut into small slices.
10. Mash up the firm beancurd in a big bowl.
11. Add in the bread crumbs, cabbage dices, carrot dices and red chilli slices to the mashed beancurd, and mix well.
12. Season the tofu mixture with salt, pepper and sesame oil, and mix well.
13. Divide the tofu mixture into 4 portions.
14. Shape each portion of the tofu mixture into a patty.
15. Heat up the pan and add canola oil.
16. Turn heat to medium-low and place the tofu patties in the pan.
17. Flip the tofu patties over when the bottom side of the tofu patties turn brown.
18. When both sides of the tofu patties turn brown, place them into a plate.
19. Using the spatula and a pair of chopsticks, place one of the tofu patties on its round side on the pan. Rotate the tofu patty in a circle so that round sides of the tofu patty will also be cooked.
20. Repeat step 19 for the rest of the three patties, and put them aside in a plate.
21. In a small bowl, mix the sweet sauce and vinegar evenly as the sauce.
22. Wash up the lettuce leaves and dry them.
23. Place one round bread on a plate as the bottom of the burger.
24. Then add 1 to 2 pieces of lettuce leaves on top.
25. Then add one tofu patty on top.
26. Drizzle some sauce on the tofu patty.
27. Then add one round bread on the tofu patty to form a burger.
28. Repeat steps 23 to 27 for the remaining three patties.
29. Serve and eat!