Pork and Tofu Patties with Ponzu Sauce

This recipe first featured on lecreuset.co.uk, as part of the Zen Kitchen recipe collection.

These days reducing meat intake can be important for many reasons. If you’re a meat eater who can’t stand cutting out meat entirely and wants to enjoy meaty flavours but consume a little less, then this recipe is for you. I have combined pork mince with tofu to create a delicious burger that delivers on flavour AND texture, but with slightly less meat. This dish is also perfect for a Japanese packed lunch or bento box. There are also some exciting appearances from PONZU and DAIKON which we will delve into a little further.

Japanese School Dinners

Whilst developing this recipe, I couldn’t help but think back to my school days. This is exactly the kind of thing I would eat in the classroom with my fellow pupils. Japanese school dinners are slightly different to the UK. Every week, six children become the “school dinner group”. Their job is to collect and serve their classmates. School children take this task very seriously and even have little hats and aprons to wear for the task - so cute!

Bento or not bento?

These pork and tofu patties would fit perfectly into a bento box. A traditional bento box often features white rice or flavoured rice, pickled vegetables, umeboshi, rolled omelette aka Dashimaki Tamago, salmon, daikon and carrot salad but there are SO MANY variations. If you travel by train in Japan, in the station’s food shops you will see rows and rows of neatly stacked, perfectly presented bento boxes each with a different selection of yummy foods. It’s also common for Japanese families to prepare these at home for their children. Perhaps you’ve seen images on Instagram of the lengths some go to shape their rice into their kid’s favourite anime or Nintendo character!

Ingredient spotlight – Ponzu

You might have heard the word ponzu bandied about town in restaurants and recipes recently. It’s one of these Japanese sauces that has become popular in recent years, but what is ponzu? In short, it’s a classic Japanese condiment with a citrussy, tangy flavour. It can be made with a variety of different fruits such as yuzu, lemon, sudachi, daidai, kabosu – yes, we do have lots of exciting citrus fruits in Japan! The juice is mixed with mirin, soy sauce and rice vinegar, to give the sauce a vinegar punch, and that’s exactly what it means: Pon (Punch) and Su (Vinegar) – don’t you just love the Japanese language!? You can use the finished sauce as a marinade, dressing or dip. In my recipe, I’ve used it as a dipping sauce to compliment my pork and tofu patties.

Another ingredient spotlight - Daikon!

Daikon is mooli by another name. For those who haven’t heard of either it’s a long white radish type vegetable that is popular in Asia. My mum used to grow them in the garden and was so proud of how big they’d get. Daikon’s flavour could be described as a milder version of radish, more mellow and without the intense mustardy kick. As a large vegetable, it’s extremely versatile and it’s used a lot in Japanese cookery. I love making daikon and mizuna salads, grating it into tempura sauce and shredding it for coleslaw and pickles. Roasted Daikon is delicious too, I recently spotted Ottolenghi using it to create a vegan centrepiece in his book “Flavour”. Once you begin to discover this slightly alien white veg, you’ll realise all the exciting dishes you can create from it. In Japan, we like to harvest our Daikon and then store it in a cool dry place to last through the winter, similar to apples in the UK. If you can get your hands on some daikon, I really recommend experimenting with it.

Recipe time!

Onto the recipe! I’ve used minced pork in this version, but you can easily mince pork belly or shoulder at home using a Magimix Cook Expert. This handy kitchen gadget will make quick work of your pork joint. Just pop it in the freezer for hours to tenderise the meat, cut into chunks and pop into the Magimix Cook Expert.

As you probably noticed I LOVE tofu and have created quite a few recipes using this magic ingredient. If you want to read more about tofu and hijiki seaweed then check out my Shira-ae tofu salad recipe