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A tender melt-in-mouth pulled pork burger made with American-style slow-cooked pork combined with authentic Japanese flavours. Coated in a light and crispy panko breadcrumb, this fusion burger embellishes upon classic pork tonkatsu flavours by topping an intensely flavoured slow-cooked crispy pulled pork patty with Asian slaw, sweet and tangy bulldog sauce and fiery sriracha mayonnaise. Serve it inside a lightly toasted and deliciously sweet brioche bun for an inventive take on an iconic dish.
Tender and flavoursome: pulled pork burger with a Japanese twist
This is a burger that has taken inspiration from one of the most celebrated Japanese dishes ever, Tonkatsu! The dish itself evolved from the popular yoshoku or “Western food” introduced to Japan in the mid to late nineteenth century. The introduction of pork to the country, amongst other ingredients and foods, via an influx of Westerners gave Japanese chefs the chance to create new and unique recipes.
Due to the ingenuity of a chef called Kida Motojiro, who decided to use this new pork ingredient and coat it in panko breadcrumbs rather than the more classic tempura batter and deep fry it - a star was born! It was served with sliced raw cabbage and a Japanese version of Worcestershire sauce, which at the time was being branded as Western soy sauce! This Japanese hybrid creation was named bulldog sauce and saw the addition of apples, kombu and authentic soy sauce for thickness and sweetness, which appealed more to local tastes. It is this combination of pork, cabbage and bulldog sauce that is still used today as the traditional pairing for this iconic dish.
Pork and cabbage: a classic combination
Pork? Cabbage? And a sweet sauce? Sounds familiar! Not only does this combination stretch into other Asian dishes such as Chinese pork and cabbage stir fry or Japanese pork and cabbage gyoza, but it is a classic Western combination that is as Germanic and Slavic, as much, as it is American. Pork and cabbage stew from Eastern Europe to slow-cooked dry rubbed pork, cabbage in the form of coleslaw and BBQ sauce in the States where it is super competitive for people to create the tastiest BBQ recipes are a few dishes to mention.
It is this idea, however, of BBQ slow-cooked pork with coleslaw that we thought could be melded with a flavoursome tonkatsu.
Pulled pork burger meets tonkatsu
An original tonkatsu, which is short for tonkatsuletu, (a fusion of the English and Japanese words for pork cutlet), is made using sliced, thin pork loin coated in panko breadcrumbs. A slow-cooked piece of pork however has a fuller flavour with the addition of salt and herb rubs and the intensified character achieved by being cooked on a low heat for a long time. Once cooked, the meat can be shredded and formed into cutlets and just like a tonkatsu, be coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried. But what better way than to serve a flavoursome tender breadcrumbed meat patty than in a burger? Simple! just place it in a lightly toasted brioche bun, add the coleslaw, and in this case, make it an Asian coleslaw, and serve it with bulldog sauce (otherwise known as tonkatsu sauce) Just for a little bit of spice and added sauciness, we add a generous squeeze of Sriracha mayonnaise.
The burger-building process
The preparation for this burger is also very simple. There is no need to slow-cook the pork, although you are more than welcome to do this. We have adopted a very down-to-earth approach for this and many of our recipes by allowing you to use store-bought produce that has done much of the hard work for you. Slow-cooked pork products are easy to get your hands on from most supermarkets. The majority come in pouches with a separate sauce for ease and timeliness for preparing a quick meal. Most will just need to be cooked for a final 30 minutes in the oven before discarding the cooking juices, shredding the meat apart with two forks and mixing with their sauce, all we are doing is following the first two steps of this but discarding the accompanying sauce in favour of preparing our own with a little miso paste and maple syrup.
We then add 1 egg and a few tablespoons of panko breadcrumbs to the mix to bind it ready to form patties. The patties are then coated in flour, dipped in whisked egg then rolled in panko breadcrumbs before deep frying for just 3-4 minutes until the crumb is golden brown. The beauty of having cooked pork to make our burgers means that we can create big boulder-sized patties. If you were to use raw pork patties, this amount of time would not cook the size of burgers that we are able to create in this recipe. And of course, the pork we use has now intensified in flavour due to being slow-cooked!
To accompany our burgers we make a simple yet highly flavoured asian slaw by thinly shredding some white cabbage and mixing it with mayonnaise flavoured with mirin, Japanese rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and black sesame seeds. It is all served in a lightly toasted brioche bun built with a bed of slaw on the bottom bun followed by the deep-fried pulled pork burger and then drizzled with bulldog sauce, Sriracha mayonnaise and a little pickled ginger. Again, these two condiments are easily found in supermarkets with more variety available in Asian supermarkets.
In Japan, it is popular to sandwich a tonkatsu between some bread with the same accompaniments called a tonkatsu sando, but this slow-cooked pulled pork burger adds a little bit more fun and flavour.
More fusion burger ideas and substitutions
If you enjoyed the flavours and textures of this pulled pork burger, have a look at our pulled beef burger recipe as well. Don't be afraid to experiment with other slow-cooked meats to create unique and delicious burgers. For example, shredded duck paired with tangy hoisin sauce can create a mouthwatering Chinese-inspired burger. Or try combining slow-cooked turkey with cranberry sauce for a festive twist. The possibilities are endless. We will certainly be developing more of these amazing burgers so keep an eye out. Subscribe to our email updates.
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Pulled pork burger recipe
Ingredients
- 800 g of ready slow-cooked pork
- 1 tablespoon of red miso paste
- ½ tablespoon of maple syrup
- yolk and white of 1 egg
- 3 tablespoon of panko breadcrumbs
For the cabbage slaw
- 200 g of white cabbage, finely shredded
- ½ tablespoon of Japanese rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon of mirin
- 2 tablespoon of mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon of black sesame seeds
- 4 brioche buns
- yolk and white of 1 egg, whisked
- 100 g (¾ of a cup) of flour
- 75 g (¾ of a cup) of panko breadcrumbs
- 500 ml oil for frying (rapeseed or sunflower)
- garnishes: Sriracha sauce, Bulldog sauce, pickled ginger
Instructions
- Cook the ready cooked slow pork as per the pack instructions. Once cooked, remove from the oven and let it cool.
- Shred the meat using 2 forks, add the maple syrup and miso paste and stir through. Add the egg and 3 tablespoons of panko bread crumbs and combine thoroughly. Divide the mix equally and form 4 patties. Roll each patty in the flour followed by the whisked egg then the panko bread crumbs. Set aside.
- To make the Asian cabbage slaw, combine the mayonnaise, sesame oil, Japanese rice wine vinegar, mirin and sesame seeds and stir it through the finely shredded cabbage.
- Using a deep fat fryer or pan filled with enough oil to cover the patties, heat the oil to 170℃ - 180℃/338°F - 356°F. Deep fry each patty, in batches if required, for 4 minutes. Lift out and place on kitchen paper to drain any excess oil.
- Lightly toast the brioche buns for a few minutes in a warm oven or on a dry frying pan. Build the burgers with slaw on the base of the brioche bun followed by a patty. Top with sriracha sauce, bulldog sauce and pickled ginger.
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