I presume that these are intended to cater for some dietary restrictions (vegetarian/vegan). By reading the recipe, though, I think these can be made even more satisfying by applying a few small tweaks. - Boost the umami - right now the only source of umami is the ribonucleotides from the tomato in the ketchup. Other good sources of umami tastes are mushrooms, yeast extract, seaweed, plain old MSG, soy sauce, Chinese fermented black beans. You could add a slice of (old) cheese on top of the burger for those who don't mind. - Both acid and salt are flavour enhancers, which both are present in your burger (as salt and ketchup), but read on. - Browning, the Maillard reaction, depends on the presence of two things - protein and sugars. The lentils, ketchup and garlic are your main sources of protein and sugars in this recipe, but acids/low pH slow down the Maillard reaction. It is likely you can unlock some nice flavours by using unsweetened tomato puree+sugar first, and only adding an acid (lemon juice?) later, after the browning has taken place.
- Boost the umami - right now the only source of umami is the ribonucleotides from the tomato in the ketchup. Other good sources of umami tastes are mushrooms, yeast extract, seaweed, plain old MSG, soy sauce, Chinese fermented black beans. You could add a slice of (old) cheese on top of the burger for those who don't mind.
- Both acid and salt are flavour enhancers, which both are present in your burger (as salt and ketchup), but read on.
- Browning, the Maillard reaction, depends on the presence of two things - protein and sugars. The lentils, ketchup and garlic are your main sources of protein and sugars in this recipe, but acids/low pH slow down the Maillard reaction. It is likely you can unlock some nice flavours by using unsweetened tomato puree+sugar first, and only adding an acid (lemon juice?) later, after the browning has taken place.
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