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A couple of months before the Lenten season, most food business owners, even those who have food carts, are already thinking of alternatives to the meat-based products which they can offer to their Catholic customers who want to abstain from eating meat. Since fish is an acceptable food during this religious season, why not sell fish burgers as an option to hamburgers?

The demand for burgers is always strong, no matter what the season. If you offer fish burgers as a healthy option to hamburgers made from ground beef, you will be able to market it even beyond Lent.

For this recipe one would need around P1,000 to buy the ingredients and packaging materials.

INGREDIENTS:
1 kg   Fish fillet meat
1 pc   Egg, medium
4 tablespoons   Modified starch (made of tapioca)    
4 tablespoons   Potato starch

Curing Mix:
1 tablespoon   Salt, refined
1 teaspoon   Phosphate, dissolved in 1/4 cup of chilled water
      paperlyne for the packaging (pre-cut paperlyne sheets are available at Ultima Entrepinoy. Or, you can cut the paperlyne to 5 by 5 inch sheets.)

Extenders:
1 tablespoon   Isolate
1/4 cup   TVP
1 teaspoon   Carageenan

Seasonings:
1 tablespoon   Sugar, refined
1 tablespoon   Black pepper, ground
1 tablespoon   Garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon   Garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon   Meat enhancer
1/2 cup   Onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon   Celery powder
1 teaspoon   Hamburger seasoning
2 tablespoons   Milk or whey powder
1/2 cup   Bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon   Beef Aroma
1 teaspoon   BF Blend

*You can buy the hard-to-find ingredients at Ultima Entrepinoy (contact details on the last page).

Step 1: Wash and strain the fish fillet, then set aside.

Step 2: In a bowl mix the ingredients for the curing mix.

Step 3: In a cup, soak the TVP in 1/2 cup chilled water. Once it softens and absorbs the water, add the isolate and the carageenan. Mix them well and set aside.

Step 4: Also combine all the seasonings in a bowl and set aside.

Step 5: Next, blend the fish and the curing mixture, mixing them together until tacky.  Then, add the extenders. Transfer this mixture into the bowl containing the seasonings and combine thoroughly.

Step 6: Add the egg to the mixture, combine thoroughly before adding the two starches. It is best to add the starches last to avoid having lumps.

Step 7: To make the patties slightly firm for easier molding, chill the mixture for 1 to 2 hours. In the meantime, you may start preparing the packaging materials.

Step 8: Spread the paperlyne sheets out on a clean tray. When the patties are chilled, put two tablespoonfuls or 50g of patties in each paperlyne. Then cover the patty with another sheet. 

Step 9: Put the molder on top.

Step 10: Position the potato smasher and press the burger until it takes the shape of the molder.

Step 11: Peel off the other sheet and fold the excess edges of the other sheet. Stack the patties and pack them either in a plastic bag or plastic container.

This recipe will yield around 29 patties and can last for six months if frozen.

To get the selling price, compute the production cost of this recipe including the packaging material and add 12 percent overhead margin on top of your desired profit margin. Let's say your production expenses are P160 for the fish meat, P40 for the other ingredients and P11 for the paperlyne, so the sum would be P210.

If you add the 12 percent overhead margin plus 50 percent more for your profit margin, you'll get P340.20. Dividing it by the number of patties you were able to make means you can sell them for P12 apiece.

But then, your market and location will still determine how much profit you could add.

Contact details: 

Ultima Entrepinoy Forum Center
Nutrition Foundation of the Philippines Bldg., 107 E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave., Quezon City
Telephone: (02) 411.1349; (02) 742.7866
www.spicesandfoodmix.com