My boyfriend and I are in love with Vietnamese food, the spices, charred pork, and traditional pickles go perfectly together. I decided to attempt a burger that had those flavors for a Sunday night dinner. This is a ground pork burger, spiced with traditional Vietnamese flavors, topped with mint or Thai basil, cilantro, pickled radishes and carrots, and a spicy sriracha mayonnaise.
Ingredients - The Burger
- 1 pound of ground pork
- 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1/4 cup of lime juice
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 - 2 teaspoons sriracha (or similar chili garlic sauce)
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/4 - 3/4 cup of bread crumbs (I used panko, but any will do)
- Combine all of the above ingredients, except for the egg and bread crumbs. Mix until just combined, be careful not to over-mix. Let this sit for at least an hour to allow the flavors to come together.
- After an hour, add the egg and bread crumbs to your pork mix, form your meat mixture into 4 patties.
- Heat your grill, grill pan, or frying pan to high heat (I used a grill pan, it was 25* out when I had this idea).
- Once your cooking surface is heated, start your burgers. Don't be afraid of charring the outside of your burgers, the sugar in the meat will cause the outside to char slightly.
- Char each side for about 3 minutes each, then turn the heat down, and cover for an additional 10 minutes, until the patties are cooked through.
- Allow meat to rest for about two minutes before placing on a toasted bun of your choice, and finishing with the additional toppings listed below.
Ingredients - Vietnamese Pickles
- 1 cup radishes, sliced
- 1 cup carrots, shredded
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 c, rice vinegar
- Combine carrots, radishes, and salt together in a bowl. - Make sure the salt is well mixed with the carrots and radishes.
- Let this sit for at least 20 minutes - the salt is removing the water from the carrots and radishes.
- After 20 minutes, drain, wash, and rinse your veggies.
- Add sugar and vinegar and let this marinate together for at least 2 hours
- After 2 hours, drain, rinse, and dry your pickles, and top your burger to your liking.
- *If after marinating your veggies, you taste them, and think they are too sour, top them with a little extra sugar (an extra teaspoon should do it) to fix the problem.
Ingredients - Additional Burger Toppings
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, or Thai basil
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise, mixed with 1 tablespoon of sriracha
