Ebi Burgers
Photos: Marco Weibel
Ebi means “Shrimp” in Japanese. I’m not Japanese, I’m Korean and grew up familiar with Donkatsu – the Korean way to say Tonkatsu – a meat that is breaded with Panko then deep fried. Generally it’s a pork cutlet but can be made with chicken as well.
I only started making Ebi burgers in 2020 — when everyone else was really honing in on home cooking, too. Through the pandemic and lockdown, I had to start thinking about what I could make at home for myself, as I worked a 9-5 and typically invested in meal-prepping or grabbing on the go. Digital media was booming with cooking content (or home workouts) where people might be scoping online recipes or digging through their parents' archival cookbooks. It was a time to “learn” or “get better” at cooking, or even work on a 5-hour recipe you could safely keep tabs on while working from home. While I saw a lot of bread fanatics, baking isn’t really my forte — cooking meat is more up my alley. What sourdough was to others, grilled meat became to me. I probably get this from my dad who loves to grill. He got me my own grill for my Bed-Stuy apartment as a housewarming gift, and now I have to take it to every apartment I move to.
My partner and I really got into making Donkatsu with a side salad and rice; it’s easy and quick. Maybe Instagram was listening to us because on my feed, I was served these images of thick Katsu Burgers which looked super tasty and mouthwatering. Then, I truly felt like I was seeing Katsu Burgers everywhere, including a pop-up at Nowadays, which was A++.
Sometimes the pork feels too heavy as the choice of meat, so we would switch to chicken and then the chicken was a little redundant. Marco, my partner, would rave about these shrimp patties in Asia — a pretty common protein choice for a patty. That came to mind and I’m like, let’s just try it out.
The first time I made an Ebi Burger, it was pretty good and a straightforward make. Easily done at home, an Ebi burger is essentially making Donkatsu but swapping the meat for shrimp and adding buns, some lettuce, spicy mayo, and sides. The main goal is making sure the shrimp in the patty isn’t overcooked, while getting the panko very crispy.
Here’s what you need to make an Ebi burger
(multiply this by by how many servings you want):
INGREDIENTS:
1 Hamburger bun (Brioche for creamy butteryness or Potato for a classic all-around favorite)
Lettuce (I generally like 2-3 leaves of Butter Lettuce for crunch or Shredded Iceberg works)
5 OZ Shrimp (my preference is raw, frozen, deveined and peeled but if you like fresh and right out the water, feel free to engage in more cooking prep)
1/3 C of Panko
1 Egg
1/3 C of Flour
Salt & Pepper
1 C of Neutral Cooking Oil (I use Vegetable oil but Canola works)
Optional Sauces: Sriracha + Kewpie Mayo = Spicy Mayo or Donkatsu Sauce
METHOD:
Let’s get started! Wash your hands first, of course.
Step 1: Thaw the frozen shrimp — if you’re using fresh shrimp, ignore. Once shrimp is thawed, chop it up! I like to have 1/3 of the shrimp in big chunks while the rest is chopped as small as ground beef so there’s texture.
Step 2: Patty-making time! Make shrimp patties about 1.5 inches thick. It helps to add a little bit of Kewpie mayo to hold the raw shrimp together as you’re shaking it + a pinch of salt and 3 shakes of pepper for flavor.
Step 3: Set up your station. 1 plate with flour, 1 bowl of beaten egg (make sure the bowl can fit the patty since you’ll dip it in there) and 1 plate with Panko — you’ll want to make the assembly line in this order.
Step 4: Patty-dressing time! Take one raw shrimp patty and dip in the flour to cover entirely; take that flour-dipped patty over and soak it in the egg bowl so it’s all slimy. Last step, cover the patty with panko so it’s fully breaded.
Step 5: Cooking and Crisping the Patties. Get a deep cooking pan and add neutral cooking oil. Set it at medium heat and to test if it’s ready, take a piece of Panko and toss it in there.
If the Panko starts to bubble, the oil is ready to simmer your patties in. If not, just wait a little bit longer and test again. When the Panko heat test has been passed, put the patty on and let it sit. You’ll know when it’s ready to flip when the bottom turns a nice golden brown. In doubt as to when to flip? Panko doesn’t hide its emotions, when it’s burnt, honey, you can tell it’s burnt (by the very dark brown it turns). Flip! Do the same as the other side.
Step 6: Assembling the Sandwich. I like to toast my buns so I’ll put it in the oven for a little. A little hack to not waste the egg wash used to bread the patty: brush the remaining egg over the insides of the buns before toasting. Prepare how much lettuce you like, in my case 2 pieces of Butter Lettuce. On the side, I will whip up some Spicy Mayo (Sriracha + Kewpie Mayo with a 1:3 ratio – 1 teaspoon of Sriracha to 1 teaspoon of Kewpie Mayo but this is truly preference – 1:1 ratio is actually pretty spicy!). If you don’t like Mayo, totally cool, you can use Donkatsu Sauce — BBQ sauce would probably be pretty awesome, too...
Final Step: Assembly. From top down, I have Top Bun, Spicy Mayo drizzled over Lettuce, Patty and Bottom Bun.
Sweet Potato Fries
I take a sweet potato and julienne it into the size I want (some people like thinner or thicker). Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mix julienned potatoes with 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of each of the 4c’s (Cayenne, Coriander, Cumin, Cardamom) plus Paprika. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes and make sure the fries are separated — think of placing them so they are “socially distanced” although not 6 ft apart, more like a few centimeters, to allow them to crisp up! If you want to make this with the Ebi Burgers, I’d do this in tandem as once you set them in the oven, you can focus on the Burgers.
Simple Side Salad
Simple Side Salad includes: a handful of mixed greens, pinch of salt, 3 shakes of pepper, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and a little bit of drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar (thanks Kelsey Fairhurst).
Anna Aesook Chae is a Korean-American from Georgia living in Brooklyn. She works on Brand Partnerships that primarily bridge the Fashion Industry with non-endemic/endemic opportunities. Her tastebuds are open to all cuisines but being in New York for over 10 years has enamored her stomach and taste with a plethora of asian foods (both new and familiar). That said, she will always love baby back ribs and a thick porterhouse cut. Thank you to the Chae family for shaping her tastebuds. Follow her on instagram: @aesookchae