Mini Red Curry Veal Patties

I had some left over Thai red curry paste, and wanted to use it up. As a result, dinner tonight was mini red curry veal patties. They turned out to be really tasty, and the meat had a real zip from the curry paste. There are many different types of Thai curry pastes. The most popular are red, yellow, and green. I prefer red curry over the others mainly because it has a tangier taste (from the kaffir lime leaves). When cooking with Thai curries, the type of curry you use should depend on what you want to make. I'm still experimenting but I really like to use yellow curry with chicken and potatoes, and I find green curry goes great with eggplants, especially tomato eggplants.

When making any type of burger meat, I like to throw in julienned zucchini. Not only do you get more nutrients from the added veggie, but it also adds moisture. This is especially helpful when using lean meat because it doesn't end up tasting so dry.

I had just bought some fresh honey from a local bee keep, so I ended dipping these mini patties straight into honey. It tasted great. The rest of my family preferred a sweet chili sauce over the honey, but really, you can use any sauce you like.

This recipe makes about 16 mini patties

Mini Red Curry Veal Patties

- 0.5 kg lean grain fed veal

- 3 tsp red curry paste

- 1.5 Tbsp fish sauce

- 2 small bunches of green onions

- 6-7 Tbsp of coriander, chopped

- 1 small zucchini, julienned

- salt and pepper to taste

- honey to brush on top of patties

Method

1.) Combine the meat, curry paste, fish sauce, green onions, coriander, zucchini, salt, and pepper in a bowl and mix until everything is distributed evenly

2.) Use your hands to roll the meat into mini patties that are about 1/2 inch thick and 2 1/2 inches in diameter

3.) Line a baking tray with tin foil, and place the meat patties on the baking tray. The patties should be about an inch apart from each other

4.) Brush a little bit of honey on each of the patties (face up side only)

5.) Bake at 350° F for 8 - 10 minutes

6.) Remove the patties from the oven

7.) Heat a frying pan with a little bit of oil on medium to high heat, and pan fry the patties until it is fully cooked (3 - 5 minutes)

8.) When the meat is fully cooked, serve it with a dipping sauce of your choice

I like to bake the patties before pan frying so that they are less greasy. Note: the patties will brown very easily from the honey.