Here’s taking that ordinary burger and kickin’ it up a notch or ten. These burgers exude a spicy-sweet flavor and mild garlickiness, by mixing Asian chili-garlic sauce and a little brown sugar into the ground pork; and then add a smear on the buns with a chili-garlic mayonnaise. Woweee!!
Pillow-soft, subtly sweet buns are a particularly good match for the tender, juicy burgers—potato buns or rolls are the perfect match. Serve with lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles or any of your favorite burger toppings. They are so good, you don’t even mind the absence of cheese.
Smoky Chili-Garlic Pork Burgers
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 5 tsp. plus 2 Tbsp. chili-garlic sauce, divided
- 3 tsp. packed brown sugar, divided
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 2 tsp. smoked paprika
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp. neutral oil
- 4 hamburger buns, preferably potato buns
Directions
- Mix the mayonnaise, 5 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce and 1 teaspoon sugar.
- In a medium bowl, mix the pork, paprika, the remaining 2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce, the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Form into 4 patties. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the patties and cook, flipping once, until well browned on both sides and the centers reach 160°F, 8 to 10 minutes total.
- Serve in buns spread with the mayonnaise mixture.
Recipe by Calvin Cox for Milk Street
Accounting for Taste 