Banh Mi Burger

Have you ever gone to your favorite Vietnamese restaurant and ordered one of their delicious Bahn Mi sandwiches and thought to yourself, how can I make this at home but in a burger form?  I have got you covered!  I’ve taken classic Bahn Mi toppings such as the pickled veggies, thinly sliced cucumbers, jalapenos, and the sriracha mayo and put them atop a delicious patty that is flavored with Vietnamese inspired ingredients.  This is hands down one of the most flavorful burgers I have ever eaten.  The mixture of the ground beef and pork I used for the hamburger patty creates the most juicy and tender burger patty that is mixed with ingredients like ginger, garlic, fish sauce, and soy sauce to stay true to Vietnamese flavors.  Another star of this dish is the homemade pickled vegetables.  If pickling your own vegetables seems intimidating to you, be assured that I have simplified this garnish to make it incredibly easy to make.  And don’t forget the fresh and crunchy cucumbers, spicy jalapenos, and delicate cilantro that contribute to the overall flavor of this burger and that really makes you feel like you’re in a restaurant eating an authentic Bahn Mi Sandwich.  This recipe does require a bit more prep work on account of making your own pickled veggies, however you can save yourself a lot of time by either buying carrots that are pre cut into matchsticks, or you can make the pickled veggies the night before.  You definitely don’t want to skip out on the pickled carrots because of the bright and acidic pop that they lend to this burger.  This is a great burger to make for a weeknight dinner or at  your next gathering, all of the flavors and garnishes will surely impress your guests.  Speaking of being impressive, did you know about that time I grew a two foot long carrot?  It was early springtime, and I ordered a bunch of my usual spring seeds like lettuce, beets, spinach, and tomatoes to start my garden.  Upon receiving the seeds, I noticed the seed company threw in a complimentary seed packet labeled super carrots.  I figured why not try the free carrot seeds, so I made a couple rows in my garden and put the seeds into the dirt.  I didn’t give the carrot seeds much thought until about a month after planting, I noticed the soil around the carrots was bulging up pretty high from the ground, it seemed to me that they were growing at an alarming pace.  I continued my gardening routine throughout the spring of watering, and a little over two months had passed by and it was time to harvest my carrots.  I firmly grabbed the base of the carrot where the stem meets the root and pulled for what felt like an eternity.  At last I had unearthed my carrot only to be in shock at what I had pulled from the ground.  Quickly I grabbed my measuring tape and found that I had grown a 2 foot carrot!  I had never grown anything this spectacular in my whole life so I know I had to do something special with it.  That’s when the recipe for this delicious Bahn Mi Burger hit me, and I had the perfect carrot to use for the pickled veggies, they really were super carrots.