Asian burgers with fresh herbs

Name: Asian burgers with fresh herbs
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 1 pound excellent quality ground beef; 4 tablespoons fresh grated ginger; 1/8 cup chopped red onion; 1/8 cup chopped scallion bulb (the white part); 1 tablespoon rolled and chopped spearmint leaves; 1 tablespoon rolled and snipped Thai basil; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon grass, chopped; 1 tablespoon fish sauce; 4 tablespoons cooked jasmine or basmati rice; scant pinch of kosher salt; 2 teaspoons mixed fresh lemon and lime zest; 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped; Thai basil leaves and lime wedges or slices for garnish; hardwood coals for grill; shredded red cabbage and a lemon-lime vinaigrette dressing with sunflowers sprouts as topping; use mini pita pockets, or lettuce, rice paper wrappers or rolls

By Sagegreen • July 18, 2010 • 2 Comments

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Author Notes: This is a great favorite in our household. I served it here with my basil Thai sauce, (see that recipe if interested), but you don't really need anything on these, they are so good. I like to serve these with a side of an Asian cole slaw. If you are not a big fan of ginger, you can reduce that amount. I have used leftover rice as a binder to offset the liquid of the fish sauce, and like the way the rice adds to the burger. —Sagegreen

Serves 4

1 pound excellent quality ground beef
4 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
1/8 cup chopped red onion
1/8 cup chopped scallion bulb (the white part)
1 tablespoon rolled and chopped spearmint leaves
1 tablespoon rolled and snipped Thai basil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon grass, chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
4 tablespoons cooked jasmine or basmati rice
scant pinch of kosher salt
2 teaspoons mixed fresh lemon and lime zest
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped
Thai basil leaves and lime wedges or slices for garnish
hardwood coals for grill
shredded red cabbage and a lemon-lime vinaigrette dressing with sunflowers sprouts as topping
use mini pita pockets, or lettuce, rice paper wrappers or rolls

Prepare your grill.
Combine all the food ingredients to form the burger patties.
Grill 2-4 minutes per side, as you like on a hot grill. Serve plain or with a Thai sauce on rolls; in mini pita pockets; with lettuce leaves; or even Spring Roll Wrappers (also known as rice paper, rice paper rounds, spring roll skin, edible rice paper, wraps, banh trang or summer roll wrappers-follow directions to soak in water first). Garnish with Thai basil and lime, cabbage and sprouts.