Thai Chili Beef Burger w/ Soy (BBQ) Sauce

A little while back, I planted a lot of peppers and chilies  for use at home. They are still growing, but I'm not known for my patience. So I bought a package of fresh Thai chilies from the store and let my mind race with what to do with them. Their flavor profile is pretty straight forward. The fruit tastes like a young, tart tomato and the rest tastes like hellfire. It's a tasty burn, but it lasts for about 5-7 minutes. They are great when pickled along with baby carrots as they like to share their heat with porous veggies and also go well with sweets like sugars in coconut or even brown sugar. They are very tasty peppers to say the least! With all these peppers on the way, I need to come up with recipes with which to use them, so expect some extra spicy things out of the ProAm Kitchen.
I came up with this recipe off the cuff and really like how it turned out. It's not authentic Thai by any means (can you tell by the fact that it's a Thai hamburger?) but by blending the best elements of any culture, you can come up with your own awesome creations!


Ingredients:

I used a mortar & pestle to make my chilies into a paste, but
mincing works too.

• Ground Beef: 2lbs
• Eggplant: 1/4", sliced
• Soy Sauce: 3/4 cup
• Rice Vinegar: 1/8 cup
• Sesame Oil: 1Tbsp
• Brown Sugar: 3/4 cup
• Ground Pepper: 2 tsp
• Granulated Garlic: 1 Tbsp
• Ground Ginger: 1/2 tsp
• Salt: 2 tsp
• Thai Chilies: Minced or ground into a paste. 5-10 depending on size, audience preference spiciness of peppers. 3/4 will be for the beef mixture and 1/4 for the Soy BBQ Sauce.

Prep Method:

Soy BBQ Sauce:

1. Place Soy Sauce into sauce pan.
2. Add half of Rice Vinegar
3. Add Brown Sugar into sauce pan and let dissolve
4. Add 1/4 of the minced/pasted Thai chilies
5. Add ground ginger
6. Let simmer in sauce pan until sauce begins to thicken to the consistency of BBQ Sauce. Add additional brown sugar if needed.

Thai Chili Beef Burger:

One eggplant goes a really long way. I only needed 4-8 slices
for this recipe, but got a lot more. They're good plain too!

1. Place ground beef into medium mixing bowl
2. Add Sesame oil, half of the rice vinegar, ground Thai peppers, granulated garlic and salt.
3. Add minced/chili paste and mix with hands or rubber spatula until ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
4. Form four half-pound patties and set aside
5. Take sliced eggplant and brush one side with sesame oil.
6. Season eggplant conservatively with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
7. Repeat for other side and set aside

Grill Method:

Keeping your grill orderly while you cook helps you know
what has been cooked and when you need to flip it.

1. Grill burgers to medium/medium-well over direct heat for 1.5 minutes on each side. Move burgers to indirect heat to cook to desired doneness. Or just cook the burger the way you are used to cooking burgers on your grill.
2. At the same time, grill your eggplant slices. You will only need one slice for each burger, but one eggplant goes a long way, so grill extra for a side dish. It's delicious!
3. When burgers are done and eggplant is done, it's time to assemble. Stack the burger in the following order from top to bottom.

• Top Bun
• Soy BBQ Sauce
• Grilled Eggplant Slice
• Burger
• Bottom Bun

Served with grilled corn on the cobb and potato wedges with curry ketchup.