Singapore Chile Shrimp Burgers

TIME 30 MINUTES SERVES 2 AIR FRYER

One of my favorite things that I ate in Singapore was chile crab, a cultural icon. A sweet and tomatoey sauce, enriched with eggs and used to smother giant crabs. We also got a black pepper butter crab which was so buttery and peppery. We ended up combining the two crabs and it created the most delicious bite we could have imagined – peppery, spicy, and slightly sweet. I’ve encompassed that glorious bite into a burger. To make it more budget friendly I’ve opted for shrimp instead of crab, but feel free to switch out the shrimp for 8 oz / 225g lump crab meat, or even any cooked fish for an easy fish patty.

FOR THE SHRIMP PATTIES

• 8 oz / 225g medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed

• 2 green onions, finely chopped

• 1 egg white

  CRAVEABLE: All I Want to Eat Seema Pankhania

• ½ tsp white pepper

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce

• ¼ tsp salt

• ¾ cup / 90g fine breadcrumbs

FOR THE SAUCE

•  ½ an onion, roughly chopped

• 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

•  ½ inch / 1.3cm ginger, grated

• 3 long red chiles, stemmed and roughly chopped

• ½ tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed

• ¼ cup / 65g ketchup

• 1 Tbsp soy sauce

• vegetable oil

TO SERVE

• 4 green onions, thinly sliced

• juice of 1 lime

• 2 burger buns

• ¼ cup / 60g mayonnaise

• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

• ½ a clove of garlic butter lettuce

DIRECTIONS

Very finely chop half of the shrimp (or blitz them in a food processor) and roughly chop the rest. Put them into a bowl with the green onions, egg white, white pepper, soy sauce, salt, and half of the breadcrumbs.

Divide the mixture in half and shape into patties. They’ll be a bit sticky, so press them into the remaining breadcrumbs to coat evenly. Chill the patties on a plate in the fridge while you make the sauce.

Put the onion, garlic, ginger, and chiles into a bowl with a splash of water and use an immersion blender to blitz them into a smooth paste (you can also finely chop them).

Heat a generous glug of oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion mixture for 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, black peppercorns, ketchup, soy sauce, and 6 Tbsp / 90ml of water. Cook for 2 minutes, mix well, and once combined, turn off the heat. Taste and season with salt.

Heat about 1½ inches / 4cm of oil in a skillet and gently shallow-fry the shrimp patties for 5 minutes or until golden on all sides. Once they are cooked, transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil, then return the pan to the heat and toast the burger buns until golden.

Combine the 4 green onions with a pinch of salt and the lime juice.

Combine the mayo and sesame oil and grate in the garlic.

Now to assemble the burgers: spread the mayo generously on the bottom halves of the buns. Add a few leaves of lettuce, the patties, and then the spicy sauce and zesty green onions. Finish with the top halves of the buns and enjoy!

NOTE → Don’t let any leftover sauce go to waste! It’s fantastic for sandwiches or drizzled over some rice with a fried egg.

Reprinted with permission from CRAVEABLE: All I Want to Eat by Seema Pankhania © 2025 by Photographs copyright © _2025 by Liz & Max Haarala Hamilton Photography. Illustrations copyright ©2025 by Evi-O.Studio. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

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