My favorite part of making dumplings is not in the stuffing and sealing process, but in the making of the filling and well, the eating. This is where you get to be creative and put all the flavors your heart desires into the filling and my heart desires a lot of flavor. Tiny little pan fried parcels should tingle your taste buds, make you smack your lips and keep stuffing them in your face or that’s at least how my pork and shrimp gyoza make me feel. I don’t want to put my chopsticks down until the whole platter has been cleared, but filling all those gyoza wrappers take time so it’s time for a shortcut.
These gyoza burgers have enough flavor that the toppings for the burger are minimal, a few pieces of tender butter lettuce and a mayo flavored with sweet and sour chili sauce is all they need. Yeah maybe a thin slice of tomato or some cucumber could be a nice addition, but then those elements will take away from all the work you put into flavoring the patties. Ground pork and chopped shrimp are mixed together with fresh ginger, garlic, green onions, a touch of sesame oil along with a few other simple ingredients to make a juicy and soft burger patty. I chose to grill my patties because I believe most burgers should be grilled, but these would work equally well fried in a pan with a little oil.
Pork and Shrimp Gyoza Burger
Ingredients
Burger patty
- 3 lb ground pork
- 2 lb shrimp
- 10 garlic cloves
- 2 inches’ ginger
- 5 green onions, sliced
- ¾ c panko
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce
- 4 tsp. sesame oil
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. white pepper
- 2 egg whites
Sweet and sour mayo
- 1 tbsp. ginger, julienned
- ½ c sweet chili sauce
- ¼ c rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp. water
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 2 -3 tsp. sriracha paste
- ¾ c mayo
To serve
- Brioche hamburger buns
- Butter lettuce
Directions
Burger patty
- Add the garlic and ginger to a food processor and blitz until you have small pieces, scrap out into a large mixing bowl.
- Add about 1 ½ pounds of shrimp to the bowl of the food processor and pulse a few times until you have little pieces but not a paste, scrape out into the mixing bowl.
- Chop the remaining ½ pound of shrimp into small pieces, I cut each shrimp into 4 or 5 pieces, add these to the mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix together with your hands until you have a well homogenized mixture. This is where I always cook a small amount of the mixture to test the seasonings and adjust as needed.
- Shape the meat mixture into patties. If you have a scale weigh out the meat between 4 and 6 oz or just shape it by hand trying to make the patties even. I use a lid covered in cling film to help shape my patties and make them uniform, before I remove them from the mold I press my thumb into the center and make a small divot, this helps prevent the burgers from puffing up and turning into a hokey puck.
- Chill the burgers on a tray lined with cling film while you make the sweet and sour mayo and you preheat your grill.
Sweet and sour mayo
- In a small pan sauté the ginger until fragrant, about 1 minutes, add in the remaining ingredients except the mayo and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens.
- Transfer the thick chili sauce to a bowl and allow to cool before adding the mayo and stirring to combine.
To serve
- Grill or pan fry the burgers until they are cooked or an internal temperature reaches 160F.
- Assemble the burger on a brioche bun with butter lettuce and plenty of sauce.
