burger wednesday! (friday)

Okay, so I never blogged those turkey burgers. But, they were INSANELY delicious. And only left us hungry for more tasty beef alternative burgers. Last night we made Thai Tuna burgers. I knew I wanted to work with Tuna next, since it is probably my favorite protein (other than beef, of course). I found this recipe from food and wine and barely tweaked it, other than swapping out the heats and sweets. I also decided to pulse some of the meat in the processor to make a paste. I find when making fish burgers, without egg, it's hard to make them stay together and usually making some kind of flavor paste solves that issue. You'll see.

Thai Tuna Burgers

2 kirby cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon light agave
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 1/2 teaspoon sriracha
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped basil
1 1/2 pounds sushi-quality tuna
vegetable oil
sesame oil
3-4 whole wheat hamburger buns

1. In a medium bowl, toss the cucumbers, onion, vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon of the agave and 1 teaspoon of salt. Season with pepper and let stand for 1 hour at room temperature.
2. In the food processor, add in grated ginger and garlic (i do it with a zester), chili sauce, agave, fish sauce, cilantro and basil and about a 1/4 pound of the tuna. Grind into paste. On a clean cutting board, thinly slice the remaining tuna into about 1/8" cubes. Add into the tuna paste and lightly fold together.
3. Shape the tuna mixture into 4 patties...orr three super satisfying burgers. Set them on a large plate lined with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the tuna burgers for 20 minutes.
4. Heat your grill pan and lightly grease with vegetable oil. Grill burgers about 3-4 minutes per side. I like my tuna rare, so that was closer to 2-3 on a super hot grill pan.
5. When they come off, baste with a drizzle of sesame oil and top with the drained cucumber pickles. I made a quick tahini/vegenaise/lemon/ginger sauce for the bottoms, but good ol' straight up mayo would certainly do you just as good.

These were messy, but crazy delicious. Try it, and pair with a quick coleslaw (i make mine with rice vinegar, mayo and a dash of smokey paprika) or grilled corn. Hello, Summer!