I’ll admit it, I get a little swell of pride when my husband tells me a dish I make is “SOOO good!” that he could eat it every day.
This, my dears, is one of those beloved dishes. I was inspired by my savory caramel sauce to put a little sweet, salty bite into dinner. As I mentioned before, that sauce is really tasty, but salty and pungent so it needs to be balanced with other flavors. I went back to my love of banh mi and was inspired by meatball banh mi. These bahn mi are usually filled with a pork and shrimp meatballs and are delightfully tender. I wanted to make a simpler and healthier version with chicken, but kept the traditional accompaniments of cucumber and pickled carrots. A modern addition of creamy avocado slices and sriracha mayonnaise top off this sandwich perfectly!
I love the sweet and tangy crunch of pickled carrots and I mainly followed this recipe for pickled carrots. There is a nice bite with just a little bit of kick from the garlic and it’s a great, healthy snack.
Banh mi chicken burgers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 4.5 to 5 teaspoons Vietnamese caramel sauce, plus 4 more teaspoons for basting (a larger amount will be a little saltier)
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup instant oatmeal
- 1 egg
- 4 hamburger buns toasted
- 1 medium tomato, cut into slices
- 1 avocado, cut into slices
- 1 cucumber cut into slices
- 1/2 cup pickled carrots
Sriracha mayonnaise Ingredients
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- dash of salt
Servings: 4 burgers
Preparation
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix first five ingredients and shape into four equal burger patties.
3. Place patties into baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. Turn off oven.
4. Remove burger patties from oven and place 1/4 teaspoon caramel sauce on each bun. Place back into oven for two minutes with sliced buns for tasting. Meanwhile, mix all ingredients for mayonnaise.
5. Assemble burger on buns with tomatoes, pickled carrots, avocado, and cucumbers. Smear the bun with the sriracha mayonnaise and enjoy!
Pickled Carrots
Ingredients
- 1 pound carrots, cut into 2-3-inch by 1/3-inch sticks
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 cup white or cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
- 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
Servings: about 2 cups
Preparation
1. Blanch carrots in a 4-quart nonreactive saucepan of boiling salted water 1 minute, then drain in a colander and transfer to bowl full of cold water to stop cooking.
2. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Pour pickling liquid over carrots and cool, uncovered.
3. Chill carrots, covered, at least 1 day for flavors to develop.
oh wow, this looks just delicious!i really like how you were inspired by bahn mi to create this dish. can i come over for dinner?
Aww, thanks J. If we are ever in the same city, you are definitely welcome for dinner! Maybe I’ll even try making halo halo for dessert.
Those looks gorgeous, so yummy xx
I love banh mis, and the pickled carrots really make the dish! I’ll definitely have to try that next time I make them.
Kim, oh yes pickled carrots are so great in sandwiches! I just updated the post with a picture of the carrots in a mason jar. They last for a few weeks too so you have time to enjoy them!
I love the idea of getting that bahn mi taste in a burger! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Rowena @ rolala loves
These look delicious! 🙂
Hi dear, How lucky we are to learn to cook this dish from you! I have never tried this type of flavor combination with the pickled carrots and sauce. It sounds so interesting. Dish looks amazing hun!
Oooh yummy!
yum yum yum… looks great
xo
MOSAMUSE
http://www.MOSAMUSE.com
Avocado slices and sriracha mayonnaise sound like the perfect toppers, and pickled carrots sound delicious, too!
Woah this sounds amazing!! I would love this post just for the pickled carrots recipe alone 🙂 When you say to use instant oatmeal, do you mean like those Quaker instant packets? I don’t have any of those, but I have rolled oats and I’m wondering if I can use those instead.
Mizz J, I use instant oatmeal because it is simply cut into smaller pieces. The rolled oats would work too though I would recommend crushing them a little more!
These have made me totally hungry! They look so good!