Bites: The Ultimate Sriracha Burger

It seems Sriracha is popping up everywhere. Originally only found in the corners of Asian Grocery Stores and specialty grocers, it's appearing in places like our local Marc's-- and even on the internet via the Oatmeal (who so aptly dubbed it "hot cock sauce"). This Thai hot sauce is revered by many, and for good reason. It's an incredibly flavorful hot sauce, and it's pretty much great on everything.

My boyfriend puts Sriracha on everything from eggs to ice-cream (okay, maybe not ice-cream), so it wasn't a shock when one day he surprised me with an entire cookbook dedicated to the stuff. After seeing it sit with the rest of my neglected cookbooks for a month or two, we finally decided this week to give one of the recipes a shot: the Ultimate Sriracha Burger. Who doesn’t like a bunch of dead cow piled high with bacon, onions sautéed in bacon grease, and a delectable bleu-cheese-Sriracha sauce? Perhaps vegetarians may not, but this girl sure does!


Ultimate Sriracha Burger

Ingredients

• 3 pounds ground beef (preferably chuck, 80/20)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 10 tablespoons Sriracha
• 4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 4 slices thick-cut bacon
• 2 large sweet onions
• 3/4 cup blue cheese dressing
• 8 sesame seed buns
• 8 thick slices Swiss cheese
• 1 large beefsteak tomato, sliced
• Arugula or romaine lettuce

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, soy sauce, 5 tablespoons of the Sriracha, and the pepper. Do not overmix. Form the mixture into 8 patties, and set aside, on a parchment-lined baking sheet, covered, in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to medium high heat
3. In a medium frying pan over medium-low heat, cook the bacon, turning as necessary. While the bacon is cooking, peel and quarter the onions. Cut each section into 1/4-inch slices. Once the bacon is cooked through and slightly crispy, remove the slices from the pan, cut each in half crosswise, and drain onto paper towels, reserving the remaining bacon fat in the pan. Cook the sliced onions in the bacon fat over medium-low heat until they caramelize, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Grill the burgers, turning once, 4 to 41/2 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer registers 130° to 135°F for medium-rare.
5. While the burgers are cooking, in a small bowl, combine the blue cheese dressing with the remaining 5 tablespoons Sriracha. Lightly toast the buns on the grill during the last minute of cooking time.
6. To assemble, spread the blue cheese mixture on both halves of each hamburger bun. Stack a burger patty, Swiss cheese slice, bacon, caramelized onions, tomato slice, and a small handful of arugula between each hamburger bun.

This is certainly not a low-fat meal by any means, but I will say that using the Foreman Grill definitely kicked some of the fat out of the burgers. We used spinach instead of the arugula (because we always have it on hand), and provolone instead of Swiss cheese. Regardless, these burgers were absolutely to die for—and in actuality I thought I may have a heart attack just looking at it.

Fatty or not, I would highly recommend trying this recipe—and running out for some Sriracha sauce ASAP. To close, here's a little humiliation of Adam for the road:


Enjoy!