The long weekend was the perfect time to get some grilling done and I took full advantage of it! Burgers were on the top of my list of things to grill but I wanted to try something a little different. The last time that I made a banh mi sandwich I remembered thinking that a burger with all of the flavours and condiments of a banh mi sandwich would be a good idea.
I decided to go with pork as the meat and I built the flavour using ingredients from my favourite Vietnamese dishes including garlic, ginger, fish sauce, cilantro, green onions and a birds eye chili for some heat. I have been hooked on Vietnamese caramel shrimp ever since I discovered it and I find that the sweet and savoury caramel sauce works particularly well in a banh mi sandwich and I could not resist making a caramel sauce to both use in the patties and to smother the burgers in. I finished the burgers off with some pickled carrots and daikon radish, cool and juicy cucumbers, spicy jalapenos, cilantro and mayonnaise to complete the medley of flavours.
The banh mi style burgers turned out amazingly well! In addition to being super easy to make they tasted fantastic! I really enjoyed the combinations of flavours and all of the fresh ingredients were definitely fit for summer. I served the burgers with a side of mayoless sesame and ginger coleslaw.
Bahn Mi Burgers
Pork burgers filled with the fresh flavours of Vietnamese banh mi sandwich.
Servings: makes 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Printable Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 tablespoon garlic, grated
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1 handful cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon cramel sauce (see below)
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 1 birds eye chili, sliced
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce (see below)
- 4 buns
- 1/2 cup pickled carrots and daikon radish
- 12 slices cucumber
- 2 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced
- cilantro to taste
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
Directions
- Mix the pork, garlic, ginger, green onion, cilantro, fish sauce, caramel sauce, lime zest and jalapeno.
- Form the mixture into 4 patties.
- Grill over medium heat until cooked, about 4-6 minutes per side.
- Assemble burgers and enjoy.
Vietnamese Caramel BBQ Sauce
A Vietnamese caramel sauce seasoned with fish sauce, lime juice and shallots
Servings: makes 1/4 cup
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablsepoons water
- 2 tablsepoons water
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 lime (juice)
- 1 birds eye chili, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Directions
- Melt the sugar into the water over medium heat and simmer until it turns a deep golden brown.
- Mix the water, fish sauce and lime juice and carefully add the water, heating until the caramel dissolves.
- Add the chili, garlic and shallots and simmer to reduce by half, about 3-5 minutes.
- mix the cornstarch into the water, mix it into the sauce and simmer until it thickens, about a minute.
Similar Recipes:
Vietnamese BBQ Pulled Pork Banh Mi
Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp Banh Mi
Thai Peanut Turkey Burger
Cuban Burgers
