banh mi burger

Pairs well with:

Moscato

Paired or alone, there's something magical about this creamy wine that nods to yummy peaches and sinful delights.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup carrot, shredded
3/4 cup daikon radish, shredded
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 medium seedless cucumber, sliced thin into rounds
1 cup fish sauce, divided
1/2 cup sesame oil, divided

3 lbs pork shoulder, coarsely ground

6 french-roll style hamburger buns
6 oz prepared pork liver pate
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only
6 slices deli ham, thin
2 medium jalapeno peppers, sliced thin

Instructions:

put shredded carrot and daikon in a zip-top bag. in a mixing bowl, dissolve sugar into hot water. add vinegar. pour liquid into bag with carrot and daikon. refrigerate for at least one hour.

put sliced cucumber rounds in a zip-top bag. in a mixing bowl, combine fish sauce and sesame oil. pour half of mixture into bag with cucumber. refrigerate for at least one hour. reserve rest of fish sauce-sesame oil mixture.

preheat gas grill. turn burners on one side of grill to high, and on other side to low.

form pork shoulders into six half-pound patties. patties should be packed tight. place burgers on grill over high heat. baste with a spoonful of the reserved fish sauce-sesame mixture. cook for 6-7 minutes on one side. carefully flip burgers and baste cooked side with fish sauce-sesame oil mixture. cook for 4-5 more minutes. remove from grill and cover loosely with aluminum foil for 5-6 minutes.

on low heat side of grill, toast buns for 2-3 minutes, watching constantly and rotating buns to toast evenly and avoid burning.

to assemble burgers, take a bun bottom, spread with 1 oz of pate. top with a layer of cilantro. add burger, a layer of cucumber (drained), 1 slice of ham, a layer of the carrot slaw and 4 slices of jalapeno. top with bun top and serve.