Potsticker Burger w/ Spicy Slaw (working title)

I made these last night and my SO and I both thought it was one of the better meals I have made, and I cook a lot! Potsticker filling burgers topped with sriracha mayo and spicy slaw.

Spicy Slaw: Ingredients:

2 C shredded green cabbage, shredded thinly

1 large jalapeno, seeds removed

1 habanero, seeds and membranes removed. Look to the bottom of this if you want less heat.

1/4 C onion (sliced thinly; per directions)

1/4 C celery; (sliced thinly; per directions)

1/4 C carrot (sliced thinly; per directions)

1 tbs soy sauce

1/4 tsp sesame oil (optional)

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp rice vinegar

2 tsp white sugar

1/4 C cilantro

sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Steps: Slice the veggies listed (minus the cilantro) very thinly. I used a peeler then julienned them. Mix in a bowl and add a couple tablespoons of salt. Mix them roughly with your hands and let it sit for at least 20 minutes. You'll be left with somewhat crisp veggies but with a lot of their water gone and they'll be a bit limp. Put veggies in a colander, rinse well, and squeeze out any excess water before placing them back into the dry bowl. This can be overly salty if you don't rinse them very well. Add soy sauce, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and white sugar. Let sit while you prep and cook your burger. Add cilantro and sesame seeds just before serving.

Potsticker Burgers Ingredients: 1 lb ground pork or chicken

1 jalapeno, small or medium, seeds removed

1/4 C onion

1/4 C carrot

1/4 C celery

4 cloves garlic

1/4 inch piece of ginger

1/8 C cilantro (stems, not leaves - stems hold up better during cooking)

1/4 C bread crumbs

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs white sugar

1/4 tsp fish sauce

1/4 tsp sesame oil

mayo (Kewpie!)

sriracha to taste

buns

Steps: Finely mince the jalapeno, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, ginger, and cilantro stems. You could prob use a food processor but I love cutting veggies! The smaller the better, but don't make a paste. Mix all of these with the pork. Do not worry about over-mixing the meat here. Add the breadcrumbs and mix some more. Add soy sauce, white sugar, fish sauce, and sesame oil and mix some more. Make four equal sized balls out of this mixture and then make each into a patty. Let it sit for a couple of minutes while your pan preheats. We have a hot stove and I used a cast iron pan. I added the burgers when a couple of tablespoons of oil was just starting to smoke. Cook a couple of minutes on the first side and then flip. It's raw pork so cook until they are completely done. They will be very brown due to the sugar inside of them. Let them sit for a few minutes when done.

Toast some hamburger buns; I toasted these more than I typically do. Mix some sriracha and mayo together to taste (I recommend Kewpie mayo!) Liberally spread the sriracha mayo on the top bun. Put a patty on the bottom bun, top with a good serving of the spicy slaw, and enjoy!

• Remove the seeds and white membrane from the inside of the habanero. Using a gloved fingernail or spoon, scrape the inside walls of the pepper to open up the blisters. Rinse well, then rub with some oil, rinse off, and let soak in vinegar or alcohol for a while. Stop anywhere earlier in these steps for more heat. If you do the whole thing and soak for an hour, you'll have no heat left in the pepper but the taste will be less habanero-y.

bon appetit