Hoisin ginger burgers with lime pickled onions

After subsisting on poutine and foie gras for a weekend, I felt in dire need of some good ole Amur’can food… Except I also wanted to enter it into the Build The Best Burger Recipe Contest hosted by Marx Foods, which meant I couldn’t just do my favourite classic burger with a huge juicy beef patty, neon slice of American cheese, lettuce, red onion, tomato and a dollop of ketchup on a Wonder Bread bun.

Instead I came up with this highfalutin Asian burger loaded with garlic, ginger cilantro and hoisin sauce with mizuna, tomato, lime pickled red onions and Thai chili sauce all snuggled between a toasted brioche roll with melted gruyere. Not quite what I originally had in mind, but it was tasty none-the-less. The Asian spices combined with the sweet hoisin sauce go well with the nutty gruyere, the pickles added some southeast Asian zing and the sweet Thai chili sauce makes the perfect substitute for ketchup.

I served it with my rendition of Syrie’s raw broccoli salad (from Taste Buddies), which for someone that’s ambivalent about broccoli was delicious. I subbed out the lemon juice for lime juice, the cumin for kaffir lime leaves and some of the salt for fish sauce then added a bit of honey for sweetness.

This makes enough for 4 smaller burgers (perfect for a brioche roll), or 2 large 1/2 lb burgers. It took me about 45 minutes from start to finish but your mileage may vary.

for the patty
1 lb of lean organic ground beef
1 green onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Tbs minced cilantro
1 tsp minced ginger
1 Tbs hoisin sauce
1 tsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp ground white pepper

for the pickled onions
1/2 red onion sliced into thin rings
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbs water
juice from 1/2 a lime

for assembly
brioche rolls (or other slightly sweet soft rolls)
sliced gruyere cheese
sliced tomato
mizuna greens
sweet Thai chili sauce

Combine the ingredients for the patty with your hand; be careful not to over mix it. Form the patties and stick them on parchment paper until you’re ready to cook them.

For the pickles, just separate the onion into rings, cover with the salt and water and let it sit for about 15 minutes. When they’re starting to wilt give them a little “massage” to until they’re translucent. Sqeeze out any excess water and dump out the brine. Return the onions to the bowl and squeeze half a lime onto the onions.

Grill/fry/broil the paties to your desired level of done-ness and while the burgers are cooking, cut the rolls down the center and toss them in a toaster oven with a layer of gruyere on the bottom half of each bun.

To assemble, just spread a little Thai chili sauce on the top half of the toasted bun. Place a burger on the cheese half of each bun, top with pickled onions, tomato and mizuna then figure out how you’re gonna fit it all in your mouth:-)

Similar Recipes

Ginger Lime Buffalo Wings

Merguez Lamb Burgers

Chipotle turkey chili with pickled jalepenos

Pirikara Shogayaki (spicy ginger fried pork)

Kaffir lime panna cotta with raspberry puree

Pickled plum and calamari salad (Ume ika somen)