Grilled Pork Patties with Cucumber Relish

Grilled Pork Patties with Cucumber Relish

Here’s a tasty recipe that I’ve found from various resource online and adapted to fit my taste bud. It is very easy and oh so delicious that I wanted to share with my readers.

My Mother had made fish cake and chicken patties in the past but I don’t think I recall her making patties out of pork before. Or maybe she had and I just don’t remember. LOL Anyhow, the other day I bought a lot of ground pork for various dish but as soon as I came across these recipe for pork patties I immediately wanted to try it out, even more so when it is “grilled” and not “fried” like fish cake. The recipe called for simple ingredients I had handy but my concern was more on how I was going to form the patty. I remember my Mother used to complained tell me that her fish cake came out a bit uneven on sizes and shape and that she used a plastic lid from a pickled jar to form the patties. So once I got my mixture ready my mind was ticking. Suddenly I got an “ah-ha” moment. LOL I made a test run by forming my patties with my little 3″ sauce dish. It worked out perfectly, at least in my opinion. If you don’t have a jar lid or these little sauce dish you can just roll it in a ball and then press it flat to form the patties. You can also keep them round and make pork meatballs. Just stick them on a soaked skewer so it’s easier to grill.

Anything grilled goes well with pickled veggies, salad or relish. I choose to accompany my grilled pork patties with garden fresh cucumber relish. These wonderful crisp organic cucumbers were growing in my backyard so it was a great opportunity for me to use them. Here’s my take on Grilled Pork Patties with Cucumber Relish ប្រហឹតសាច់ជ្រូកនឹងជ្រុកត្រសក់.

Organic Garden Fresh Cucumbers

Ingredients
1.5 lbs ground pork
1 head of garlic (about 12 cloves), finely chopped I use my garlic presser which saved lots of time
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2.5 tablespoons baking powder This is what gives it that nice and bouncy texture. It also helps keep the meat in shape and not too sticky when you form it.
1/8 cup water
1 tablespoon caramel sugar (optional)

Cucumber Relish
2 medium cucumber, halves seed removed and sliced diagonally
3-4 shallots, sliced
5 red chillies (optional)
1 tablespoon unsalted roasted peanut, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons vinegar (rice or distilled)
2 tablespoons warm-hot water

Method:
In a mixing bowl combine meat, garlic, black pepper, sugar, and salt. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.

Next, mix the baking powder with water and whisk until you get a nice foam. Add it to the pork and fold it in with the mixture. Incorporate caramel sugar if using. This gives the patty a nice golden brown color when grilling. You can make the caramel by bringing 1 tablespoon sugar and ½ tablespoon water to a boil and then simmer until the sugar brown.

Allow everything to mingle in the fridge for about 1-2 hours. This will make it easier to form the patties.

When it’s ready, use the lid of a jar, a small sauce dish, a cookie cutter, or your palms to form a patty or meatballs. Grill about 15 minutes on each side.  My recipe here makes 17 patties (3″ inches). These patties freeze well. If you plan to do so, line the patties with wax/parchment paper so it doesn’t stick and freeze them individually (single layer). Once frozen, you can transfer them into a zip lock bag and grill them at a later time. There is no need to thaw them.

To make the cucumber relish, combine slice cucumbers and shallots. Mix together sugar, fish sauce, vinegar and water. Stir until the sugar is dissolve then add it to cucumber and shallots. Allow to pickle for about 15 minutes. Just before serving top with chilies and peanuts.