Pulled chicken burgers are very popular and for a good reason. I never strive to make better a dish that’s already very good, but this recipe is perfect for when friends are coming over!
Pulled chicken is my absolute favourite! I have made it countless times in a variety of ingredient combinations, some of which I cannot remember now. Generally, pulled chicken or pork make great burger filling. When I have burgers, I usually choose the ‘make my own’ option and request for the well-seasoned pulled meat to be piled on.
This recipe uses Mantou buns, the reason I eat chilli crab. The ones I have used here are the frozen kind, simply because I don’t know how to make mantou. I would love to learn, but I work so maybe not anytime soon. Besides, I see nothing wrong with a little frozen food action. My recipes will easily give away my obsession with freezing things.
Yes, you will need a steamer to make this happen. You can also microwave it, or deep fry it. Choose how you’d like to roast your chicken too, honestly. The recipe here uses sambal olek, a fiery Indonesian sambal I learnt about when watching Nigella Lawson cook with it. Since then, this bottled sauce (available in NTUC) has become a mainstay in my kitchen.
If you’re not into making this with sambal, then you can try any other simple chicken marinade. I also like making this with soya sauce, grated garlic, ginger and orange zest. The resulting chicken is darkly delicious and slightly perfumed with the orange zest that goes so well with ginger and soya sauce.
I’ve topped these with mint leaves and raw onion, as the freshness of the mint goes great with the punch of the sambal chicken. If you’re not a fan of raw onion, then you could caramelise them before adding them here. However, bear in mind that these sliders are pretty tiny, so filling them too much won’t work in your favour.
How else would you stuff your mantou buns, if you had to make sliders outta them?
Ingredients
- 8 Mantou Buns, cooked according to package instructions
- 400g Chicken Breast
- 3 Tbsp Sambal Olek
- 2 Cloves Garlic, grated
- Salt to taste
- 1 Red Onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 Small Tomato, sliced into circles
- 1 Sprig Mint Leaves, washed and stems removed
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200 Degrees Celcius and line a medium baking tray with foil.
- Combine the chicken with the sambal, grated garlic and salt. Place in a baking dish and cook till fork tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. To ensure that the chicken doesn’t dry out in the oven, cover the top of the baking tray with foil.
- In the meantime, prepare the mantou buns and set aside.
- Once the chicken is cooked, use two forks to pull apart the meat, so you have strands of shredded, sambal soaked chicken.
- Then, you can start assembling the sliders (you can make this an ‘activity’ and get your guests to assemble their own slider). Slice the buns in half lengthwise, then start with the tomato, followed by the meat, onions and mint leaves. Put the lid on and eat warm!
- Also, feel free to add what you’d like to the slider; some sauce if you prefer. Enjoy cooking (and eating)!
