It’s mid-summer and time to spice up the burger routine, don’t you think? Banh Mi Burgers take all the savory, crunchy, sweet and sour magic of those Vietnamese sandwiches and transform them into the perfect main dish for next weekend’s cookout. Top them with sweet and spicy Sriracha Lime Mayo for the ultimate creamy finish. All for under 500 calories.
In a wonderful example of the kismet made possible by this crazy thing we call the internet, as I was in the middle of testing this recipe, I got an email from a reader (hi Barbara!) about Banh Mi burgers! Barbara wrote to say she liked these Indian Chicken Burgers (if you haven’t tried those – you must!) and recommended her own version of Banh Mi Burgers.
I tested her fantastic recipe and rolled everything I learned from my own testing (including fabulous quick pickles from White on Rice Couple) into this recipe that is where Asian street food meets backyard grill.
It’s a burger that’s savory, sweet, spicy and tangy with great smokiness if you cook it on the grill. Though it’s great just cooked up in a skillet as well.
And Sriracha Lime Mayo. Have you tried the combo of spicy Sriracha sauce with creamy mayo? There are as many varieties as there are blogs on the internet, but I like mine with a boost of fresh lime juice and the tiniest pinch of sugar.
Sriracha Lime Mayo may be my favorite condiment to have in the fridge. Serve it on these burgers, but keep the leftovers for dipping fries, chips, carrot sticks, drizzling over avocado toast, folding into scrambled eggs, tossing with tomatoes, combining with rotisserie chicken for the most amazing wraps, topping fish tacos….
I’ll stop myself.
Enjoy!
- 3 cups Warm Water
- 3 Tbsp Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Salt
- 4 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
- ¼ lb Carrots and/or Daikon Radish, matchsticks (this will work fine with just carrots)
- ⅓ cup Mayonnaise
- ½-3 tsp Sriracha Hot Sauce (adjust to taste
- 1 tsp Lime Juice
- ½ tsp Fish Sauce (opt)
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 3 Scallions, green parts only, finely chopped (use green parts below)
- 1 lb Ground Pork
- 3 Scallions, white parts only, finely chopped (use green parts below)
- 2 tsp Red Curry Paste
- 2 tsp grated Fresh Ginger
- 1 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1 tsp Lime Zest (from about ½ a lime)
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- Oil, for grilling
- 4 Hamburger Buns
- ¼ cup Cilantro Leaves
- 1 Cucumber, sliced
- Make the Pickles: In a small bowl, whisk together the water, sugar, salt and rice vinegar until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour liquid over carrots and/or daikon radish to cover. Refrigerate for at least an hour and up to a month.
- Make the Sriracha Mayo: Combine mayonnaise, Sriracha, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and green parts of scallions. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to a week.
- Make the Burgers: If using a grill, preheat grill while assembling burgers.
- Combine ground pork with white parts of scallions, curry paste, ginger, coriander, lime zest, salt and pepper. Divide mixture into four equal parts and form into patties.
- Brush grill or skillet with oil. Cook burgers on grill over direct heat or in a skillet over medium-high heat, turning halfway through cooking until burgers reach an internal temperature of 160F (71C).
- Toast hamburger buns.
- Assemble burgers by topping buns with Sriracha Lime Mayo, burger patties, cucumber slices, pickles (discard liquid) and cilantro. Enjoy!
More pictures are coming from our trip to Colorado last week, but here’s a quick pic of Molly and Clara enjoying the mountain air in the Rockies (and spontaneously hugging). If you want more, you can also see about a hundred family selfies of us hiking up mountains over on Instagram.
these burgers look amazing, Jess. We do so much grilling in the summer that we sometimes get into a rut. I will definitely throw these into our grilling routine.