New Burger on the Block

Just when we thought we had seen all there was to hamburgers, the recipe for Thai Turkey Burgers landed on our desk. Instead of the usual salsa, red onion and melted cheese that adorns so many burgers, the Asian patty had ingredients from a Thai kitchen: green onion, cilantro, soy and ginger. It’s hard to know what made it sound so good. It might have been the turkey instead of beef or that we had never seen a burger seasoned quite that way. Whatever it was, we added the recipe to the “try” file, kitchen-talk for “don’t let this slip through your fingers,” and within a matter of days, four plump Thai burgers were sizzling on the grill.

Although the origin of hamburgers is fuzzy, historians agree the idea probably started in Hamburg, Germany, where meat was pounded to make it tender. The transition to hamburgers on buns might have been at a country fair around 1885, when an enterprising Midwesterner decided to sell flattened meatballs between two slices of bread so people could eat them while they walked around the fairgrounds. The next big moment in hamburger history came years later when Billy Ingram, who started White Castle, the nation’s first burger chain, came up with the brilliant idea of a bun, spongy enough to soak up the juices and custom-designed to fit a burger.

In the end, our hunch about Thai burgers turned out to be right. Plunked on a bun and topped with practically anything, they’re burgers any barbecue cook would be happy to serve.

Thai Turkey Burgers

Mark Boughton

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turkey , thai , burgers , breast , onions

There are times when we all need a new way to season ground turkey. Thai ingredients were the inspiration for this juicy burger.

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey (not breast)
4 green onions, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Coarsely ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns

Instructions

1. Combine the turkey, green onions, cilantro, soy sauce, ginger and pepper in a large bowl. Shape into 4 burgers and grill, broil or pan-fry until cooked through. Place burgers on buns and serve. Serves 4.

Recipe by Jean Kressy, Relish Spring 2007 Supplement.

Nutritional Information

Per serving: 310 calories, 13g fat, 25g prot., 23g carbs., 1g fiber, 570mg sodium.

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