For this year’s Fourth of July cookout, update long-held traditions with globally inspired flavors — starting with the burger.
This recipe from our book “COOKish,” which limits recipes to just six ingredients without sacrificing flavor, is loosely based on a Filipino “chori” burger. It’s a spiced chorizo patty topped with a banana ketchup, mayo and a relish called atchara, or pickled green papaya. The sweet-savory toppings wonderfully balance the richness of the chili-spiced pork.
Looking to pare the ingredients down to the essentials, we tried jarred Asian chili-garlic sauce and were delighted with the results. Most jars at the supermarket contain a bright mixture of chilies and garlic, of course, but also tangy rice vinegar, salt and sugar, making it several seasonings in one.
Since pork burgers tend to dry out easily, we mixed the sauce directly into the ground pork to help keep the meat moist. A smear of chili-garlic mayonnaise reinforced the flavors in the meat mixture.
