Not Superior

Let’s face it – ground chicken is boring AF. The blandest of the bland. It needs help. Most of the time, it needs A LOT of help. I won’t lie, when it comes to the ground meat varieties, I usually pass right on by if I see ground chicken on sale. Ground Turkey is far more superior with the same low-fat benefits and it just seems to hold up better to a multitude of uses.

I’m not exactly sure what made me want to purchase this “Thai Style” ground chicken when I saw it, especially after all the shit I just talked in the above paragraph. But to be perfectly honest, I had my heart set on wanting to do some sort of different approach to Ramen. I love Pho but I don’t know the necessities when it comes to Ramen. And no, I’m not talking about the 19 cent crap package we ate to get us thru college – no hate. I’m talking about the fresh veggies, the spicy broth, the chewy, impossibly long noodles – THAT kind of Ramen. That lives rent-free in my head. I thought I could make some cool Ramen & Meatballs or something like that…..but it never came to fruition. I couldn’t make it make sense in my head, especially so new on my Ramen-loving journey. So, I didn’t want to do it a disservice.

Ground Chicken is good for….burgers. Ta-Da. I was deflated. I was *excited* because this ground chicken was naturally flavored with so many delicious & recognizable ingredients…..BUT WHAT WAS I GONNA USE IT FOR? Well, tis the season. Grilling Season. A quick, easy burger to throw together – half of that shit was already seasoned for me & I was excited. I threw in some ginger paste, soy sauce, sriracha, panko breadcrumbs, a few other tings, AND CHOPPED SHRIMP.

That was my lightbulb. I was like “omg this could be SO good.” I’ve been seeing shrimp burgers everywhere on Pinterest & the ‘Gram this spring season. But I won’t lie, regular shrimp burgers look & sound so gross to me. So chewy. So pasty….I won’t go on any futher. The point is, to make a shrimp burger you PULVERIZE the raw shrimp so it makes a sticky, gummy, paste-like substance….apparently that’s the perfect binder for a burger….but a lot of these Shrimp Burgers didn’t have a lot else going on….which grossed me out even further. I’ve already talked about my love of shrimp so stick with me, but altering the TEXTURE of a food is a far-worse crime than changing the flavor. So I didn’t wanna do that.

I chopped the shrimp with a sharp knife so they were indeed smaller in size, but still slightly chunky because I wanted the bite of the burger to still have the overall texture of ground chicken with that extra sweet zing of shrimp – let’s just say IT WORKED, so let’s get to it!

Instructions

Place the ground chicken in a large bowl.

Measure out all ingredients & empty into the same bowl with the ground chicken.

Chop your shrimp with a sharp knife – no right or wrong way to do this, just get it done. I wanted the burger to be “seamless” in the sense of I wanted the shrimp to be noticeable but I didn’t want it to interrupt the bite or texture of the burger – take that grain of wisdom for what it is & chop your shrimp by hand, NOT in a blender or chopper.

Using a gloved hand, mix the burgers by hand in order to incorporate all the ingredients and mix well.

Once the consistency is slightly sticky, use the palm of your hand to gently push everything down to the bottom of the bowl.

Usually I would tell you the easiest way to make burgers is to Score (X) the bottom of the bowl for equal parts of mix to make a burger – since you have added shrimp & other ingredients, these burgers are gonna be massive.

Honestly, what I did was grabbed a fistful of burger mixture and didn’t pat it out. I simply made a large ball and set it on a waxpaper-lined plate and waited until the end to see if all 5-6 burgers were equal in size before patting them out.

In hindsight, I should have made 6 burgers, but they were delicious, they still cooked evenly and they fit on the bun…..*throws hands up* so depending on how many mouths you are feeding, this recipe makes 5 big ol’ burgers or 6 normal sized burgers!

Once you have patted out all burgers, cover with another sheet of wax paper & pop them in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour. This will give the burgers some time to rest & form together so they won’t fall apart on the grill! ((there is SUCH a lack of fat in ground chicken that freezing helps keep all the ingredients together))

Grill your burgers on whatever grill, flat-top or pan you have – no judgement here. Cook to an internal temp of 165 degrees. Sorry, no medium burgers here.

If you have the patience, go ahead & grill your Baby Bok Choy on the grill as well – it should literally take 2-3 minutes. Just for a singe & barely-there char. It adds a beautiful element to the burgers! Oven-roasted works too! 400 degrees for 7-9 minutes.

I made a homemade thai peanut sauce to drizzle overtop the Baby Bok Choy & my burgers but I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, so I didn’t include it in this recipe.

Lastly, dress your burgers with a few leafs of Baby Bok Choy, a thick swipe of Duke’s Mayo, and a smattering of smashed Chili Crisp Peanuts to top it all off – it will be an out-of-this-world bite!

The shrimp are a silky, sweet treat in each bite. Ground Chicken with all its added ingredients is a flavorful surprise of regular Ground Chicken – the Baby Bok Choy replaces lettuce, and the green onions inside the burger patty give that extra little element of freshness!