I recreated these Thai chicken burgers from one of my favourite Asian restaurants, Keo. I had a hunch I could figure out the chicken burger easily, and I’m happy to say I think this may be one of the closest to original restaurant recreations I’ve made.
I put my own spin on the toppings. Still, I think they make a better combination with the burger than the original, which simply included lettuce, tomato, onion, and banana peppers.
So what’s in these Thai chicken burgers?
There’s garlic and fresh ginger, but the main flavour of these burgers is lemongrass. It gives the burgers this wonderful lemony flavour that goes perfectly with garlic and ginger.
To use the lemongrass:
- Cut off the root end and the stem end.
- Peel off a couple of outer layers until you get to a nice smooth core.
- Hit the core a few times with a rolling pin, smashing it releases the essential oils, which is where the flavour is.
- Just mince it up and throw it in!
Thai Chicken Burgers
Ingredients
For the burgers:
- 1 pound ground chicken (minced chicken) - I recommend ground chicken thigh
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 inch ginger - fresh, peeled and minced or grated
- 2 stalks lemongrass - peeled & minced (roughly 1/4 cup minced)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoons canola oil - for frying
For the toppings:
- 4 medium hamburger buns
- 1 medium red onion - sliced
- ½ medium avocado - sliced
- 1 small bunch cilantro (coriander) - fresh
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha - divided
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon or two of canola oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.
- With clean hands, mix the burger ingredients, then divide it into fourths. Shape the ground chicken into patties about 4-5″ in diameter and then put them in the hot skillet. Let the patties cook for 6-8 minutes or until that side is browned. Then flip over and cook for another 6-8 minutes until that side is also browned. There should be no pink inside the burger.
- When they’re done cooking, put them on a plate lined with a paper towel. Put the burgers in burger buns and top with red onion, avocado, fresh cilantro, and sriracha sauce.
- For the lemongrass: cut off the root end and the stem end. Peel off a couple of outer layers until you get to a nice smooth core. Smash the core a few times with a rolling pin, then mince it up.