Banh Mi Burgers
Important Note #1 - This is a draft recipe. I made it somewhat improvisationally, so the amounts are in many cases a rough guess. Please don’t consider this a bulletproof tested recipe.
Important Note #2 - I tend to think of most larger recipes as a series of smaller recipes that get assembled, so this is presented in that way.
Important Note #3 - I almost never add salt and pepper to taste to recipes as an instruction. Assume that you should taste things, decide if you think they’re salty enough, and then add more if needed.
Mushroom Paté
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, chopped
- 1/2 lb oyster mushrooms, chopped
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 3 thyme leaves, diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp maggi seasoning
Method
- Place the mushrooms and onion in a food processor and process to a fine mince, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Heat the olive oil over medium high and add the contents of the food processor. Cook on medium to medium high, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released their liquid and dried again.
- Use a small amount of chicken stock to do a final deglaze of the pan, then reduce to au sec.
- Add the maggi, stir, turn the heat off, then add the thyme leaves and allow the residual heat to soften them.
Allow the paté to cool, then store in the refrigerator until needed.
Banh Mi Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tsp sriracha
Method
- Mix all ingredients thoroughly and store, covered, in the fridge.
Not-Really-Pickled Carrot + Radish
I made this using store-bought pre-shredded carrot sticks, because I’m lazy, and a Korean radish, because I wanted to see what would happen.
Ingredients
- 1/2 c carrot sticks
- 1/2 c grated daikon radish
- 1 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
Method
- Combine all ingredients and store, covered, in the fridge.
Banh Mi Burger
Ingredients
- 1lb 80/20 ground beef
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1/4 tsp chinese five spice powder
Method
- Mix all of the ingredients together, then separate the beef into four oval patties.
- Grill or fry the patties via your method of choice. I grilled them on a pellet grill at 450 for 9 minutes per side.
Final Assembly
I made these with two mini baguettes cut in half down the middle because I live in the middle of nowhere and that was the closest thing I could get to the traditional sandwich roll. I think in the future I’ll make these on brioche buns just for practicality. The sandwiches wouldn’t close.
If you can get the french sandwich rolls, do that, and scoop out a bit of the soft part of the bread to create room for the fillings.
Ingredients
- 4 french sandwich rolls
- 1/2 english cucumber, sliced thin
- Cilantro, to taste
Method
- Liberally apply the Banh Mi Sauce to both sides of each roll.
- Apply a thin layer of the Mushroom Paté to the bottom half of the roll.
- Apply a thin layer of sliced cucumber to the bottom half of the roll.
- Place the Banh Mi Burger on top of the paté layer.
- Top the burger with the “not-really-pickled” vegetables and cilantro to your taste.