Tuatua fritter burgers

When we have a decent-sized haul of shellfish we can’t go past nice meaty tuatua patties. If you have collected your own shellfish, we recommend leaving them in salt water in the fridge for least an hour to get rid of some of the grit and sand inside (you don’t have to do this if you have got Cloudy Bay Clams’ tuatua because they flush them for you).

We managed to talk our mum into giving us her tuatua pattie recipe (to which we added a bit of sriracha chilli sauce) and served the patties inside crusty bread rolls with a simple slaw. We love cooking this down at the free barbecues by the beach in Maketu.

Ingredients

4	Burger buns (Main)
¼ cup	Mayonnaise

Fritters

400 g	Tuatua, steamed (Main)
2	Eggs
1 cup	Flour
¼ cup	Milk
½ tsp	Baking powder
¼ cup	Onions, finely diced
¼ cup	Chopped fresh coriander
2 Tbsp	Hot sauce, Sriracha
2 cloves	Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp	Lemon juice

Coleslaw

¼	Green cabbage
¼	Red cabbages
1 tsp	Sugar
½	Carrots, grated
2	Spring onions, thinly sliced
½ cup	Fresh coriander, chopped
1	Lime, juiced
½ cup	Mayonnaise

Directions

For the tuatua fritters

1. Mix together all of the ingredients, except the tuatua.
2. Fold the tuatua meat through the mix.
3. Fry spoonfuls of the batter in hot oil until golden on each side and well-cooked.

For the coleslaw

1. Finely shred cabbage and place in a bowl with sugar and salt. Mix together.
2. Toss through carrot, spring onions, coriander, lime juice and mayonnaise.
3. Cut the buns in half and lightly toast in the oven.
4. Spread with butter and top with a tuatua fritter and generous serve of coleslaw and a dollop of extra mayonnaise.

Have a look at Karena and Kasey's other seafood recipes

• Popcorn clams
• Grilled moon shell clams with smoked butter and herb crumb