Build a Better Burger is an annual contest held at Sutter Home Winery in California's Napa Valley. Among the 2007 finalists for the alternative burger was one based on the beloved Vietnamese banh mi sandwich. The entry came from Brigitte Nguyen of Lexington, Kentucky. She grilled ground pork patties seasoned with some usual Viet suspects -- fish sauce (nuoc mam), lots of garlic, Chinese-five spice and soy sauce -- and added ginger and minced jalapeno for extra heat.
The bun itself got a double dose of creaminess in the form of butter and mayonnaise. Usually, banh mi has just one of these, most often the mayo. For extra lusciousness, she spread a bit of pate in there too. Pickled daikon and carrot, jalapeno slices, cilantro and cucumber grounded the burger in the classic banh mi tradition.
How's that for Vietnamese food going mainstream? As a runner up, Brigitte received $2,000. Here's her recipe at the Build a Better Burger site:
Vietnamese Five-spice Pork Burgers recipe
Btw, the winning alternative burger ($10,000 prize) was a "Little Italy Sausage Burger."
Nice find. A banh mi burger is such an original idea! Butter, mayo and pate maybe a little too rich for my tastes. Nevertheless, it looks like a great recipe to try out.
Posted by: Chuck | November 07, 2007 at 02:28 PM
Nothing's too rich for my taste. :) Heck, one burger concept I've been meaning to try is calf moose with duck fat mixed in, cripy duck skin 'bacon', and garden tomato on top.
Posted by: Kevin | November 07, 2007 at 05:28 PM
I love mayo in banh mi so I'd keep that. As for the dose of pate, think of it as the poor Viet version of adding foie gras to a burger. In New York, I've tried Daniel Boulud's $30 burger stuffed with foie gras, and frankly didn't taste the foie. You'd definitely taste the pate in Brigitte's burger!
Posted by: Andrea Nguyen | November 07, 2007 at 09:24 PM
andrea! i was absolutely thrilled to hop on the internet today and see my name mentioned on your blog. i am a huge fan of your gorgeous book; i borrowed it from our school library during my international cuisine quarter. i was fortunate enough to deliver the lecture on vietnamese cooking and we made some great recipes from your book. it's great to see all this fun feedback on a burger i created on a complete whim! i literally wrote the recipe four hours before the submission deadline! i'd love to keep in touch and please let me know if there's ever anything i can help you out with.
Posted by: Brigitte | November 15, 2007 at 06:52 AM
Hello Brigitte,
Look at you! Thanks for the kind words about Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. I'm delighted that you got it from the public library since I started out as a cookbook junkie by going to the library and hanging around the 641.XXX.XXX section!
You showed great finesse and flair with your hybrid burger -- just like a good Vietnamese cook should!
Posted by: Andrea Nguyen | November 15, 2007 at 02:10 PM
I was inspired by Brigitte's fusion burger and created my own Vietnamese twist on pulled pork. I used Chinese five spice in the dry rub and all of my favorite Viet flavors in a vinegarless sauce. I was very pleased with the results and I think it beats traditional pulled pork, which is typically overdressed with BBQ sauce.
Posted by: Chuck | December 01, 2007 at 10:52 PM
Yep, I know Chuck. Your pulled pork recipe at
http://sundaynitedinner.com/vietnamese-pulled-pork/
inspired me to post on the latest Vietnamese banh mi sandwich incarnations:
http://vietworldkitchen.typepad.com/blog/2007/12/vietnamese-pull.html
Posted by: Andrea Nguyen | December 03, 2007 at 11:52 AM