Monchi chicken burger (McDonald's copycat)

The Monchi burger is a savory fried chicken patty sandwiched between a sweet mallorca bun. The Monchi burger/sandwich is based on a McDonald's menu offering from Puerto Rico. See the notes below the instructions for the mallorca bun recipe.
YIELD
4 Monchi burgers
PREP TIME
schedule 15 minutes
COOK TIME
schedule 12 minutes
TOTAL TIME
schedule 1 hour and 27 minutes

Ingredients:

Frozen chicken patty
  • 1 pound ground chicken meat (thigh or breast or a combination of the two)
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 14 teaspoon MSG
Chicken frying
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 whole large egg
  • hot sauce
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • peanut oil or another neutral frying oil (enough to fill at least 2 inches in your pot or pan)
Sandwich assembly
  • 4 mallorca buns
  • mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup (all optional)
  • 4 fried chicken patties (from above)
  • 4 slices of cheese (American, Swiss, cheddar or other)
  • lettuce, tomato, pickles (all optional)
  • powdered sugar (optional)

Check below recipe directions
for additional notes.

Related blog post: A pan de mallorca adventure

Directions:

Fried chicken patties: grind your own chicken in a food processor or meat grinder. You can also purchase ground chicken from the store if you can find it. If you've never processed ground chicken before and you own a food processor, chop the meat into small 1/2-inch pieces and add to a food processor, pulse until you have a paste of ground chicken with no large pieces.

Grab a small bowl and pour 1/2 to 1 cup of water into it. You will be using this to dip your hands/fingers in while you're shaping chicken patties and the water helps your hands to not stick to the chicken as much.

In a large bowl add chicken, sugar, salt, black pepper, and MSG. Wet your hands and use them to mix up all the chicken and spices. Your hands are the best tool for this, and you will have to use them again in shaping your patties. 

Line a sheet pan with parchment and spray with non-stick baking spray if you want. This will help the patties not stick to the surface as much, but it's optional. Take a quarter of a portion of the chicken mixture and spoon it onto the parchment. With wet hands, shape the chicken mixture into a round shape that is similar to the size of the mallorca bun that you have. Do this 3 more times until you run out of the chicken mixture. I found that you'd want your raw chicken patties to be about a quarter to a half-inch thick. 

Once your patties are formed, they need to go into the freezer to firm up. You can freeze them for an hour and then if you want, you can remove them from the sheet pan and package them up in freezer-safe bags and store them in the freezer until you plan to use them. I wouldn't store them for more than a few months, but up to a couple of weeks in the freezer should be just fine. 

Chicken patty dredging and frying: When you are ready to make your sandwiches, it's time to make the dredging station.

Grab two large dishes. In one dish add your all-purpose flour, salt, ground black pepper, and paprika. Stir it all up. In the second bowl, add your whole egg, hot sauce, and buttermilk and whisk to combine. 

Remove your frozen chicken patties and one at a time coat them in flour, then dip them in the egg/buttermilk mixture and then back into the flour. You want to make sure they are coated thoroughly after each step. In the end, they should be coated in a thin amount of seasoned flour. Place each flour-coated patty on a plate, cutting board, or cooling rack to wait for frying. 

Add at least 2 inches of oil to a large pot and add to medium-high heat on your stove. If you have an instant-read thermometer or frying thermometer, you want to get the oil temperature up to 350 F (176 C). 

Fry each patty for 5 to 6 minutes or until they are golden brown. I suggest flipping each patty at about the 3-minute mark and cooking for the rest of the time on the second side. 

Rest your fried patties on a cooling rack or a paper towel-lined sheet pan while you cook the rest. Top each hot patty with sliced cheese. 

Sandwich assembly: slice mallorca buns and toast if desired.

Add any mayonnaise, mustard, and/or ketchup to bottom of the bun. Top with fried chicken patty and cheese.

Add lettuce, tomato and more condiments if desired.

Complete each sandwich with the top buns and dust each sandwich with powdered sugar if desired. 

Serve and enjoy.

Notes:

The recipe I used for pan de mallorca is from King Arthur Baking. I used butter instead of lard and I shaped my mallorca dough into eight buns instead of six. Do not dust your buns with powdered sugar until right before you want to eat them. The sugar will melt and disappear if you powder them too far in advance.


Have you made this recipe? Share on Instagram, tag @beerinator and let him know!



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