Garlicky Pork Burger
Instructions:
Pork makes juicy burgers that take to all sorts of seasonings;
see the list on Do-It-Yourself Ground Meat
for some ideas. Use ground pork in this recipe if you like. Simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until just combined, but not too much or the burgers will be tough.11/2 to 2 pounds fatty pork shoulder or three-quarters
lean pork and one-quarter fat, cut into chunks
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
for some ideas. Use ground pork in this recipe if you like. Simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until just combined, but not too much or the burgers will be tough.
- Heat a gas or charcoal grill or the broiler until moderately hot and put the rack about 4 inches from the heat source. (If you’re cooking on a stovetop, when you’re ready to start, heat a large, heavy skillet over mediumhigh heat for 3 or 4 minutes; sprinkle its surface with coarse salt.)
- Put the meat, salt, pepper, garlic, and fennel in a food processor (in batches if your machine is small) and pulse until coarsely ground—finer than chopped, but not much. Put it in a bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then taste and adjust the seasoning. (Cook a spoonful first if you like.) Handling the meat as little as possible to avoid compressing it, shape it lightly into 4 or more burgers.
- Over a moderate fire—you should be able to hold
your hand 3 or 4 inches over the rack for a few seconds—
grill the burgers for about 5 minutes per side, or
until medium. (Timing on the stovetop is exactly the
same.) Serve on buns, toast, or hard rolls, garnished as
you like.
- Lemongrass Pork Burgers.
- To the mixture, add 3 or 4 large shallots or 1 medium red onion; another 2 garlic cloves; 2 trimmed stalks lemongrass; 1 teaspoon minced fresh chile, like jalapeño or Thai, or to taste, or hot red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste; 1 tablespoon nam pla (Thai fish sauce); and 1 teaspoon sugar. If you’re using ground pork, pulse these ingredients a few times in the food processor before mixing them into the meat. If starting with chunks of pork, work all together in batches as described in the main recipe.
- MAKES: 4 servings
- TIME: 30 minutes