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Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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Banh Mi Burgers with Vietnamese Caramel BBQ Sauce

[heart_this] · Jul 5, 2011 · 25 Comments

Banh Mi Burgers

Pork burgers filled with the fresh flavours of Vietnamese banh mi sandwich.

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.

Banh Mi Burgers
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 .

Banh Mi Burgers

Banh Mi Burgers

Banh Mi Burgers

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Servings: 4

Pork burgers filled with the fresh flavours of Vietnamese banh mi sandwich.

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
  1. Mix the pork, garlic, ginger, green onion, cilantro, fish sauce, caramel sauce, lime zest and jalapeno.
  2. Form the mixture into 4 patties.
  3. Grill over medium heat until cooked, about 4-6 minutes per side.
  4. Assemble burgers and enjoy.
Vietnamese Caramel BBQ Sauce

Vietnamese Caramel BBQ Sauce

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes Servings: 1

A Vietnamese caramel sauce seasoned with fish sauce, lime juice and shallots

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
  1. Melt the sugar into the water over medium heat and simmer until it turns a deep golden brown.
  2. Mix the water, fish sauce and lime juice and carefully add the water, heating until the caramel dissolves.
  3. Add the chili, garlic and shallots and simmer to reduce by half, about 3-5 minutes.
  4. 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
Vietnamese Caramel Salmon Banh Mi
Pad Thai Shrimp Burgers
Lemongrass Chicken Banh Mi Paratha Tacos
20 Minute Vietnamese Caramel Beef

Burger, Food, Grill, Main Course, Pork, Recipe, Sandwich, Vietnamese

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sue says

    July 5, 2011 at 11:54 pm

    This sounds delish! As a veg'n though, I can't do the pork thing. So I'm gonna borrow your idea and your sauce recipe and see what I can do without meat. Cuz a good banh mi is almost impossible to find!!! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Quirky Jessi says

    July 6, 2011 at 12:15 am

    I love finding new ways to change classic dishes into completely different meals. In this case, taking a burger and making it a delicious Vietnamese dish looks incredible. <3

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says

    July 6, 2011 at 1:53 am

    This looks absolutely amazing. Is that a typo in the caramel recipe? Two times 2 tablespoons?

    Thanks!!!

    Reply
  4. Rosa's Yummy Yums says

    July 6, 2011 at 6:08 am

    What a marvelous combination! This burger looks so droolworthy and tasty.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  5. Beth (Jam and Clotted Cream) says

    July 6, 2011 at 8:19 am

    Your photo's are amazing as always. Going to have to try the Vietnamese BBQ sauce – sounds delish!

    Reply
  6. Foodycat says

    July 6, 2011 at 9:32 am

    I have got to get on the banh mi bandwagon – I love all those flavours.

    Reply
  7. Joanne says

    July 6, 2011 at 10:24 am

    This is definitely one of the most unique burgers I've seen in a while! I especially love the caramel sauce!

    Reply
  8. Deborah Dowd says

    July 7, 2011 at 1:26 am

    I love Banh mi and this version looks like a great way to do this at home!

    Reply
  9. Kevin says

    July 7, 2011 at 9:59 am

    Anonymous: I use water twice in this recipe, once to help melt the sugar and a second time to melt the caramel back into a liquid.

    Reply
  10. Marisa says

    July 7, 2011 at 11:04 am

    Now these are burgers I can get addicted to! That caramal sauce and all the Vietnamese flavours sounds amazing.

    Reply
  11. Mai says

    July 7, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    hmmm you're such a genius. I eat banh mi at least once a week. I'm excited to try this recipe!

    Reply
  12. We Are Not Martha says

    July 7, 2011 at 1:37 pm

    What a beautiful colorful burger! I Love that you made it banh mi style and the caramel BBQ sauce is blowing my mind!

    Sues

    Reply
  13. vanillasugar says

    July 7, 2011 at 11:18 pm

    that caramel sauce i would drink, straight up. those flavors, oh heavens yes.
    saving this one for sure.
    kevin you NEED your own joint.

    Reply
  14. The Short (dis)Order Cook says

    July 8, 2011 at 1:25 pm

    These look heavenly! I was working part-time in NYC for the past year and there was a bahn mi shop on the block. I was always there. I have returned full time to my regular office and I do miss those sandwiches. You gave me a fun way to recall the memories!

    Reply
  15. Jeane - tienda de ciclismo says

    July 8, 2011 at 1:56 pm

    that habureger is the best hamburger wich a tasted on my live thanks for the recipe. Thanks.

    Reply
  16. spcookiequeen says

    July 9, 2011 at 3:39 pm

    I love Vietnamese flavors, this is a nice twist on the Banh Mi. Looks great over here.
    -Gina-

    Reply
  17. concrete polishing says

    July 11, 2011 at 3:51 am

    Wow ! nice burger .. thanks a lot for the post ..

    Reply
  18. Chris says

    July 22, 2011 at 12:58 pm

    What a seriously good looking burger, Kevin. Totally unique approach to the same ol' burger!

    Reply
  19. Anonymous says

    January 5, 2012 at 3:40 am

    What exactly is a birds eye pepper? Thanks!!!

    Reply
  20. Kevin says

    January 6, 2012 at 11:47 am

    Anonymous The bird's eye or Thai chili is a chili commonly used in south east Asian that is fairly hot. If you cannot find them then you can substitute with a chili that you can find and use enough to get the desired level of heat. Chilies de arbol or jalapeno chilies would work well.

    Reply
  21. Anonymous says

    January 13, 2012 at 7:54 pm

    I just made this. It tasted wonderful. Thank you so much 🙂

    Reply
  22. Katina says

    January 30, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    This burger is amazingly delicious. I didnt think I could acheive this amount of flavor so easily. A bit sweet and a bit spicy is the perfect combo. This will be made again.

    Reply
  23. Vanessa P says

    February 22, 2012 at 1:22 am

    I just made this burger! It was delicious. I wasn't able to get daikon, so I just skipped it. Also my caramel didn't turn out as nice and dark as yours, but I am sure the flavor was similar. My patties seemed to fall apart, I may add some sort of binder next time. Thanks for the recipe! Love your blog!

    Reply
  24. Driveways says

    October 3, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    We’d like to suggest a perfect opportunity for lifting your spirits, renewing your vision and sharpening your teaching…

    Reply
  25. Anonymous says

    June 11, 2018 at 7:02 pm

    Holly shit! Best burgers I had so far… What a genius you are!

    Reply

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