Recipe: Spicy Vietnamese veggie burger
Here at the editorial team, we’re always in the mood for a juicy burger. And it certainly doesn’t always have to be made of meat. This Vietnamese-inspired veggie burger is on the table in no time and is the perfect combination of rich and fresh.
In Vietnam, there’s a banh mi stall every five meters or so. What do you order there? A sandwich (banh mi), often with lots of pork, a generous smear of mayo, sometimes an egg, and always pickled vegetables to counter all that fatty indulgence a little. Once a French colony, all this deliciousness is therefore served on a wonderfully airy baguette. Asian meets French, two of our favorite cuisines—what’s not to love?
Piling a whole lot of meat onto a sandwich may be customary, but you can just as easily choose a juicy veggie burger. You’ll also be doing your bit for the environment and still get your daily protein fix. Because in case you didn’t know: vegetarian food is often packed with protein.
Our favorite burger for those moments is Garden Gourmet’s vegetarian Burger Deluxe XL, which you may still know under the name Tivall. You can simply buy it at Albert Heijn, in those green trays. They also have all kinds of other products, such as lentil burgers with carrot and mint or delicious spicy falafel. But for this banh mi burger, the lightly seasoned flavor of the Burger Deluxe XL works best.
The baguettes in Vietnam have a softer texture than the French bread we know here; a small Turkish roll comes closest. Otherwise, a regular white baguette or a hamburger bun is perfectly fine too.
Preparation
For the pickled vegetables, mix the white wine vinegar with 60 milliliters of water, the salt, and the sugar. Add the carrot and cucumber and set aside until you’re ready to build your burger. It’s important to cut the vegetables truly julienne-style (into strips as thin as a matchstick). This creates a kind of crunchy coleslaw effect.
Make the Sriracha mayo by mixing all the ingredients for it together. Start with a little Sriracha and keep adding more until it’s as spicy as you like. Cut the buns in half and spread the insides with butter. Fry briefly in the pan until golden brown and crisp.
Fry the burger in a frying pan with a generous layer of butter, over moderate heat for 4–5 minutes. Turn regularly. In another pan, fry two sunny-side-up eggs and try to keep the yolks intact. If you’d rather not multitask, you can keep the burgers warm under aluminum foil or in an oven on the lowest setting, and fry the eggs at the end.
Spread a generous smear of Sriracha mayonnaise over the bottom halves of both buns. Place the burger on top, followed by the pickled vegetables and cilantro, and finish with an egg. Place the top half of the bun on top and enjoy.
Go in any direction
Not in the mood for Asian food? You can take your sandwich in any direction. Check out this video to see how Tom Caron makes a delicious French veggie burger.
This article was created in collaboration with Garden Gourmet.
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