Recipe: Ramen Sliders with Pork, Beef and Wasabi Mayo

If you follow international food crazes, you’ve probably heard of the ramen burger. It’s the latest fusion food craze to take the culinary world by storm, following the success of the cronut. Chef Keizo Shimamoto created it a week ago, and people are already lining up in the hundreds to buy this amazing concoction.

As soon as I heard about the ramen burger, I wanted to recreate it in my kitchen – I’m a sucker for gimmicky trends! Sneh of Cook Republic has recently made a tofu miso ramen burger – you can see her recipe here. I made my ramen burgers in a different way though, which I found much easier and marginally healthier as well.

Ramen Sliders with Pork, Beef and Wasabi Mayo

Ingredients

Two packets of ramen noodles, sesame oil, 150gm pork mince, 150gm beef mince, breadcrumbs, one egg, Kewpie mayonnaise, wasabi, coleslaw

Method

Cook the ramen noodles in boiling water with a dash of sesame oil. Once they’re half a minute away from being perfectly cooked, drain the noodles, shock them in cold water and set aside.
Mix the pork and beef mince together thoroughly. The pork gives it more flavour, the beef gives it body. Mix through one egg and enough breadcrumbs to give it structure. Using an egg ring as a guide to size, shape it into a patty. Fry up the patties in a frying pan on high heat until crispy on the outside and set aside.
Mix half a teaspoon of wasabi with three large tablespoons of Kewpie mayonnaise. This combination is quite ‘bitey’ – if you prefer a more subtle wasabi flavour, you can probably reduce the amount of wasabi, or increase the amount of mayonnaise.
Spray a small amount of oil onto a sandwich press. Using an egg ring for size, take the cold blanched noodles and shape them into patties on the surface. Lightly spray some oil onto the top of noodles to stop them sticking, and place the egg ring in the middle to stop the sandwich press from squashing the noodles down too far.
Cook in the sandwich press for approximately six to seven minutes. The ramen should be nice and crispy by then, slightly golden brown and piping hot.
Start assembling your ramen sliders. Ramen bun at the bottom, followed by a pork/meat patty, a small amount of coleslaw (I used pre-packaged coleslaw, but you can make your own!), and add a dollop of wasabi mayonnaise.
Top off with another ramen bun and enjoy!

If I was to make these ramen sliders again, I would probably look at adding some additional seasoning to the pork/beef patties, something that would suit the Japanese-style slider more. They were very tasty, and the smaller style made it much easier to hold and eat without leaving a mess.

Would you ever try making a ramen burger at home? How much do you buy into food trends?