Yamburger for one, please

I've been wanting to incorporate Yam (or Taro root) in a vege patty for the longest time. I just never got around to it just like I haven't got around to a lot of things in my life ... cleaning out the store room, paying my bills, clearing my wardrobe of clothes I haven't worn in a year, etc. Butlet's get back to the yam-burger. It's nothing revolutionary nor is it particularly innovative. Instead of using boiled potatoes (as many do in a vege or non vege patty), i used steamed and then mashed yam. It's more flavourful than the spud and less starchy ... and it's perfect for binding the rest of the ingredients together.

What can you add to a yamburger? (The PIC above is the patty before it was fried btw) Well, the choices are endless. If you want it healthy, you can add some bulgar wheat, beans, wheatgerm to regular vegetables like chopped carrots, peppers, celery and the like. I retained my primary patty ingredient -- tofu -- but reduced the quantity from two whole square to just one. I chopped some carrots, red peppers, mushrooms, coriander, green chillies and wheat germ ) in place of breadcrumbs and seasoned it with oregano, pepper and salt. Oh, and chilli flakes and onion powder.



I didn't coat this patty with breadcrumbs; instead a left some wheatgerm for the cakes to lighty  roll on prior to frying. It doesn't take long to cook ... heat the oil first and when it's hot enough, slilde in the patties, reduce heat and cook till both sides are golden. Since the yams are already steamed the only thing you need to worry about is the tofu which doesn't need to cook  for long.

The result was delicious, yay! If I were to change anything, I would use more of the yam and less tofu. For this patty, I used 1 tofu, 1 cup roughly mashed yam, 1/4 cup chopped coriander, 1/2 chopped green chilli, 2 tbsp carrots, red peppers and mushrooms -- all chopped small, 1/2 cup wheat germ and more for coating, 1 tsp oregano, dash of soy sauce and salt and pepper.



Of course, you can add other vegetables and you can spice it up with some red chilli flakes too. Sometimes though, too many ingredients (like too many cooks) spoil it all. So, be mindful.