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4.58 from 7 votes
Tofu mixed in the meat makes the patties bouncy and soft. Flavoured with miso and soy sauce, these chicken patties don’t need sauce to go with them. Shiso (perilla) leaves wrapped around the patties decorate them and give an extra Japanese touch to the dish.
Chicken Patties wrapped in Shiso
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
25 mins
 

These are Japanese-style chicken patties. Tofu mixed in the meat makes the patties bouncy and soft. Flavoured with miso and soy sauce, these chicken patties don’t need sauce to go with them. Shiso (perilla) leaves wrapped around the patties decorate the patties and give an extra Japanese touch to the dish.

Recipe Type: Main, Side
Cuisine: Japanese
Serves: 2 as main, 4 as side
Author: Yumiko
Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)
Chicken Patties
  • 100g (3.5 oz) silken tofu
  • 250g (8.8 oz) chicken mince
  • 5 shiso leaves finely chopped (optional, note 2)
  • tsp miso (note 3)
  • 1 tsp light soy sauce (note 4)
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp corn flour (corn starch)
Instructions
  1. Wrap tofu in a clean cloth or 2-3 layers of paper towel and squeeze water out until most of it is removed.

  2. Add tofu and all other Chicken Patties ingredients in a bowl, except corn flour, and mix well, ensuring that miso is distributed evenly and there are no large pieces of tofu.

  3. Sprinkle corn flour widely (so that it doesn't become a big lump) and mix well.

  4. Level the surface of the chicken mixture and draw lines to divide the mixture into 8 equal portions.
  5. Oil (not in Ingredients) your palms and roll each portion into a ball, then flatten it to make a flat oval patty of about 1.5cm (⅝”) thickness.
  6. Wrap the patty with a shiso leaf so that equal portions of the leaf cover both sides of the patty. The leaf will not cover the entire patty but this is intentional. (See the last photo in the post).

  7. Repeat step 5 and 6 to make 8 patties.
  8. Heat oil in a fry pan or skillet over medium low heat.
  9. Place the patties in the pan with the upper half of the leaf face down. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until light golden brown. Then turn over the patties.

  10. Turn down the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 2-3 minutes until the bottom of the patties is golden brown.

  11. Turn the heat off and serve.
Recipe Notes

1. Shiso is a Japanese perilla that can be purchased at Japanese grocery stores. Please read the post for more details about shiso.

If shiso cannot be obtained, you can make chicken patties without shiso and they are still delicious.

2. If you are unable to find shiso and are making chicken patties without it, add 2 tablespoons of finely chopped shallots (scallions) to the patty mix.

3. Either white miso or light brown miso is recommended here. Dark miso (aka miso) makes the chicken patties brownish and the flavour is a bit too strong.

4. For the same reason as note 3 above, I used light soy sauce to maintain the light colour of the patties but if you only have normal soy sauce, it is still OK to use. Dark soy sauce is not suited for this.

5. Chicken patties Wrapped in Perilla are excellent make ahead dish. You can serve at room temperature and they are great for bento box (lunch box).