When we invited friends over for Labor Day, my husband was going to make the usual burgers and brats. But Ms. Lucille commented, “that’s it?” Right there, I knew I had to take the burgers up a notch 🤣. Looking through my freezer, I found some ground beef I purchased on sale, so I thought let’s turn these ground beef into delicious Vietnamese burgers.
Vietnamese burger vs. American burger?
Normally when people think of a burger, they think of ground beef shaped into a patty and seasoning it with salt, pepper, and garnished with things like sliced onions, cheese, ketchup, mustard. All this is sandwiched between two store bought buns.
A Vietnamese burger is seasoned with more than just salt and pepper. It is seasoned with soy sauce, finely chopped onions, garlic, shallot, oyster sauce, sugar and garlic chili sauce. I used my Cuisinart food processor to do all the chopping for me so I don’t have to chop it by hand 😂. All of this deliciousness is topped with a mixture of sriracha-mayo and topped with pickled daikon radish & carrots. Click here for my easy pickled daikon radish & carrots recipe.
Instead of using store-bought buns, I served these Vietnamese burgers on made-from-scratch buns. I added dried basil, oregano, cilantro to the dough mixture for some extra flavor. Roll the dough into balls then baked until golden brown. You can use store bought burger buns, but I think they are a bit too soft. Whereas these homemade buns hold up well and add a nice texture to the burgers.
How to cook Vietnamese burgers?
The meat mixture from all the aromatics and sauces make it a bit runny, and that is okay. When you cook the burgers on a grill, have the grill on high heat and place the burgers on the grill. Close the grill and let the burgers firm up before flipping. Flipping the burgers before the bottom cooks will cause the burger to fall apart.
Don’t have a grill? No problem, you can cook these up on the stove top. I prefer cooking these on my cast iron pan because it holds heat well and clean up is a breeze. However, the same rule applies. Let them brown on one side before flipping them.
How to assemble the burgers
To assemble the burger, slice the homemade buns in half. Spread a generous amount of sriracha-mayo on the bun. Place the Vietnamese burger on, then top it with the pickled daikon radish and carrots. It doesn’t get any simpler. There you have it, a Vietnamese burger.
Vietnamese Style Burgers
Ingredients
Ingredients for the burger marinade:
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 6 cloves garlic finely chopped.
- 1.5 shallots finely chopped.
- 1 medium white onion finely chopped.
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 5 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp garlic chili sauce more if you want it more spicy.
- 1 tbsp pepper
Ingredients for the spicy mayo:
- ¼ cup mayonaise
- 3 tbsp sriracha hot sauce
Ingredients for the garnish:
- pickled daikon radish & carrots see my previous post for the recipe.
Buns:
- 6 homemade buns cut in half you can use store bought buns if you'd like.
Instructions
Instructions to marinade the ground beef:
- Add the finely chopped garlic, shallot, onion, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and chili garlic sauce together in a bowl. Mix well and give it a taste. Adjust the seasonings accordingly if needed.
- Add the seasoning mixture into the ground beef and mix until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it marinade for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
Instructions to cook/grill the burgers:
- After the 30 minutes, shape the burgers into the desired size.
- Turn the grill on high and place the burgers on the grill. Grill as normal, but do not flip until bottom is cooked or the burger will fall apart. Cook like any other burger.
Instructions to assemble the Vietnamese burgers:
- Slice the homemade buns in half and place the burger on top of ½ of the buns.
- Place the pickled daikon radish & carrots on top of the burger.
- Then spread the spicy mayo on the other ½ of the buns. Enjoy.
Instead of seasoning your burgers with just salt and pepper, give this simple Vietnamese burger recipe a try. I’m sure it will be a hit. Leave me a comment below if you’ve tried this recipe.
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