Vegie burger mission

Tonight I'm attending a BBQ for Gib's open water diving course graduation. A perfect opportunity to try out one of the vegie burger recipes recently featured in Epicure.

I decided to give the tofu burger a go. I have attempted many bean and lentil burgers in my time, but tofu burgers are a place I have never gone before. Probably because tofu is something I have generally disliked in the past, but it seems to be growing on me. Gib and I went for a wander along our local asian grocer strip (our most favourite one had a fire out the back of it a couple of evenings ago, so it was not open for obvious reasons) so I picked up some tofu, wakame and other bits and pieces.

I found the mixture to be quite bland when I tried it, so I made some additions.

Beth's new super tasty tofu burger recipe (that doesn't fall apart!)

2 sheets dried wakame, boiled for 3 mins, drained.
6 spring onions, finely chopped
300 g firm tofu, marinated in 5 spice
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs (made from the crusts of sprouted wheat bread)
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
2.5 cm piece ginger, finely diced
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp nanami togarashi (Japanese Seven Spice)
2 tbsp peanut oil
Some extra sesame seeds

• Boil the wakame for 5 mins, until fully rehydrated. Dice into 1cm pieces (my food processor wasn't going to cope with it whole).
• Put wakame and half the tofu into processor and process until crumbly. Transfer to a bowl.
• Place bread into processor, process until breadcrumbs form. Add remaining tofu, let run until smooth.
  
• Add to bowl with the tofu/wakame, sesame seeds, soy sauce, lemon juice, peanut oil, ginger, nanami togarashi and freshly ground pepper. Stir/mix with hands until well to combine (it formed a dough, so I used my hands, it was much easier). Form into 2-4 patties, depending on how big you like them. I find veggie patties very filling, so I made 4 small ones. Press the patties into a tray of sesame seeds to coat them, brush off any excess.
• Cook 4-5 mins each side.

I let mine rest for about 30 mins: the time taken to drive to the BBQ and have the BBQ started. I don't have any photos because the camera was forgotten (d'oh!) however, I can say they looked exactly like the ones in the picture.

I was surprised at how meaty they tasted. I think it was the soy sauce/tofu/lemon combination, and even though I was despairing about the recipe at the start, I think my additions really lifted the flavour of the patties and I'd definitely make them again. Using tofu in the buger was really easy and it did bind everything exceptionally well. The patties were more structurally sound than any bean/lentil patties I have made previously. And they looked great!