Whats the best Secret Burger Ingredient? Fish Sauce!

The mention of fish sauce doesn’t normally go over well with less experimental eaters from places other than Vietnam or Thailand. But if you want to taste what will surely be the best burger of your life, it’s time to put aside the negative thoughts you may have about fish sauce and give it a try. Fish sauce is basically just fish fermented with sea salt.

The process is a smelly one, but it produces something greater than the sum of its parts. If sampled straight up, fish sauce would taste a lot like what it sounds like; kind of funky. But when added to marinades, sauces and condiments, but whatever it touches turns into a flavor bomb.

Despite the obvious fear, fish sauce will not produce a fishy-tasting burger, we promise. When allowed to marinade ground beef before it’s grilled into a burger, fish sauce will heighten the umami factor, giving the meat a depth of flavor that’s unattainable any other way.

The umami Burger is the perfect burger to make using fish Sauce! Don’t be afraid of the fish sauce. Understand the crucial umami factor that fish sauce brings to food and it will become your best pantry friend. So often, the powerful, pungent punch of fish sauce can be intimidating to cooks who aren’t familiar with it’s marinading magic.
Fish sauce is essentially the salty liquid from the fermentation of small fish and salt. But when used in small quantities, fish sauce brings fabulous umami savoriness to the burgers. It won’t taste like a “fish sauce burger.” It just tastes like a darn great burger! You’ll be a fish sauce marinade convert very quickly.

Ingredients

2 lbs Ground Beefhamburger
1 1/2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce (for more daring, savory depth, use 2 tablespoons)
2 cloves Garlic, crushed or fine mince
1 teaspoon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Black Pepper
4-6 Hamburger buns
condiments of your choice and cheese makes it extra decadent and special
Directions:

In a small bowl, combine fish sauce, garlic, sugar and black pepper. Add the marinade to the ground beef and combine until all the ingredients are mixed together well. Refrigerate the beef for at least 30 minutes. We like to allow the beef to marinade overnight in the fridge for optimum flavor.
Gently form meat into patties. Form them to the size of your burger or slider buns.
Cook on a skillet or grill. (1/2 patties on a med./high grill take about 3 min. per side for med. rare burger. Heat temp., thickness, etc. all affect cooking times) Assemble your burger with your favorite condiments and treat yourself to the cheeseburger version!