Recipe: Hoisin Burgers with Chili Garlic Mayo and Grilled Scallions

My brother dropped by the other night to have dinner and help me finally get my Wii connected to our wireless Internet (I had to move my Wii from my bedroom to the basement and there's a crazy button combo I have to press to turn it and the TV on, but I've got better seating now and access to Netflix, so it's all good). Anywho, we decided burgers (adapted from a recipe in a recent Food Network magazine) and onion rings would be a good choice. The onion rings were a bit of a failure, due to my inability to multitask (can't talk, watch TV, and pay attention to the deep fryer at the same time), but the burgers were tasty (especially the chili garlic sauce-mayo!) and I'm sharing the recipe for them in this post.

Serves: 4-6 (depending on how large you make your burger patties)
Prep. time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 1 - 1&1/2 lb. 90-93% lean ground beef
• Salt and pepper
• 1 bunch scallions/green onions, roots and green part removed
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• Hoisin sauce (see my recipe here)
• Approx. 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp. chili garlic sauce (this can be found in the Asian section at your grocery store; use more if you want it spicier, less if you want it less spicy)
• Hamburger buns
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced (use a vegetable peeler or mandolin to cut thin slices

Directions

Preheat the grill. Season the beef with salt and pepper, along with a splash of soy sauce or a few tablespoons of the hoisin sauce, and form into 4-6 patties (remember to press your thumb into the middle of each burger to create an indentation to help them cook properly). Toss the pieces of scallion in sesame oil and then seal them up in a foil packet. Place the scallion packet and burgers on the grill over medium to medium-high heat. Brush the burgers with the hoisin sauce repeatedly as they cook, being sure both sides get evenly coated. Cook until the scallions are tender (5-10 minutes) and the burgers are cooked to the desired doneness (about 3-5 minutes per side for medium doneness). While the burgers and scallions are cooking, whisk together the mayo and chili garlic sauce in a small bowl until thoroughly blended. Spread the chili garlic mayo on the inside of the buns, then place cucumber slices on the bottom, beef patty on top, and top the patties with the grilled scallions.

These burgers are tasty, with Asian-inspired flavor and delicious toppings. The chili garlic sauce-mayo has the kind of heat that sneaks up on you and offers a kick to the rest of the dish, while crunchy slices of cucumber help cool it down. Onion-y scallions go perfectly with the salty, meaty, peanut-y taste of the burgers.