Spicy Bulgogi Burger is packed with garlic and ginger flavor, spicy Asian sauce, and topped with thinly sliced carrots and radishes. It’s a flavor and texture packed yum on a bun!

This epic burger is part of a fan-frickin-tastic month-long event hosted by Girl Carnivore, but opinions are always my own!

I know I’ve talked about being a picky eating growing up. The level of picky is probably not deemed picky based on today’s standards. However, I know my level of picky tried the patience of the rest of my family; my sister included. She seemed to be able to eat everything and like it. Minus liver, of course.

I am the only one in the family that doesn’t like salmon, asparagus, cilantro, spicy foods, and probably a few other things I can’t think of right now. The phrase, “There’s one in every family” was stated many times when we went out to dinner. I was that one, of course.

How picky is picky?

When dining out at a seafood restaurant it was always popcorn shrimp. I would crack crab for everyone at the table, which is why I’m pretty darned good at it. But I would eat mounds and mounds of popcorn shrimp. No, I didn’t like fish sticks growing up. Those weren’t even a consideration.

Chinese restaurants? Beef with broccoli, moo goo gai pan, chicken with broccoli, egg drop soup, and plain white rice. Those are the few things I would order when I was a kid. Of course, my tastes changed a little and I found moo shu pork or chicken which is still my favorite dish to date.

Indian restaurants were different. I couldn’t get enough of that rich curry flavor provide there wasn’t any spice or cilantro in there. All bets were off if that was the case. I remember eating my weight in papadum, as I call them. They were super crispy and had delicious flavor. I found some cumin flavored once. Oh my. I was in heaven.

All bets are off with food from South America!

Mexican I could eat quite a bit from the menu. However, see above comment about cilantro. I could tell if there was one leaf of the stuff in a vat of salsa. So the phrase “no pico de gallo please” was said when I placed my order. Then Dad would chime in, “You can give me her pico!”

I think Mexican or Latin American cuisine is the only style I could thoroughly enjoy barring the heat and cilantro issue. There’s not been a dish I’ve tried that I was completely disgusted by. But it is the Americanized version. I’m sure there’s some authentic dishes where I’d be like, “Yeah…no.”

Now there weren’t many Korean restaurants when we were kids. But every time we went to the one, I would order only one dish off the menu. You guess it! Bulgogi! That seasoned beef is super delicious! I would try the other dishes people ordered, but always preferred mine the best.

For those that don’t know, bulgogi is simply “fire meat.”

The name itself is bul which is fire and gogi which is meat. Fire meat. It’s thinly sliced pieces of meat, beef mainly, grilled on the barbecue or over a table top griddle. The beef used is a prime cut like a ribeye or sirloin which is marinated in soy, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and sugar. This gives the beef it’s deliciously dark color.

Now, this dish is old. Like 37 BC old. It was initially served to royalty. However, some refugees traveled to Seoul with it and the delicious dish just gained popularity from there. It’s in fine dining, local restaurants, and there’s even some make at home kits in grocery stores.

The dish is typically grilled but you can pan fry it with some veg and cellophane noodles.

Now, I’m not far off with my burger creation. Some fast food restaurants have bulgogi flavored burgers on their menu. And let me tell you! This burger packs such a powerful flavor punch. You’ll be glad I introduced you to it!

Okay, I’m just going to talk about the elephant in the room. The Buffalo Wild Wings Asian Zing in my ingredients list. I looked for Korean barbecue sauce. I couldn’t find any. And I use gochujang so little that buying a large bottle to make Korean barbecue sauce was just not an option. So, I went with what I could find that I thought would taste good.

And I’m here to tell you this sauce has a KICK! So, I’m perfectly happy with the choice of sauce. It’s got heat, ginger, garlic, sweet, and sour all in one bottle. If you’re not a huge fan of the kick, then maybe cut the sauce to a teaspoon or two and baste sparingly when you take your burgers off the grill.

You can even see the flecks of flavor in the meat right there!

What you can’t see is the bottom bun. It was so small and the rice patty is so big. I just had to laugh as I took the pictures. And if you don’t press the rice hard enough it does have a tendency to call off the bun. Just gonna let you know that little nugget of info right there. Or you could totally skip the bun and eat the burger over rice.

Yes, there’s tomatoes under the burger. I can’t have a burger without tomatoes and onions. I’m just going to confess that right now. It doesn’t matter the burger! Like the one I’m going to have for lunch today. It’s going to be stacked with stuff, but I’ll still put some tomato and onion on there. And mayonnaise on the bun. Because that’s what I do!

4 servings

Spicy Bulgogi Burger

Name: Spicy Bulgogi Burger
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds ground beef; 1/2 cup Asian barbecue sauce (I used Asian Zing from Buffalo Wild Wings); 1 tablespoon minced ginger; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; 1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce (low sodium); 2 teaspoons toasted sesame seed oil; 2 cups cooked rice; 1/4 cup thinly sliced carrots; 1/4 cup thinly sliced radishes; 4 hamburger buns; Toppings of choice

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Spicy Bulgogi Burger is packed with garlic and ginger flavor, spicy Korean barbecue sauce, and topped with thinly sliced carrots and radishes. It's a flavor and texture packed yum on a bun!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup Asian barbecue sauce (I used Asian Zing from Buffalo Wild Wings)
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce (low sodium)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seed oil
2 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/4 cup thinly sliced radishes
4 hamburger buns
Toppings of choice

Instructions

Preheat your grill to medium-high heat.
Combine the ground beef with the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and 1 tablespoon of the Asian sauce.
Form the mixture into 4 patties.
Place the burgers on the grill and cook for 3 minutes, rotate 45 degrees and cook an additional 3 minutes.
Turn the burgers over and grill for 3 minutes, rotate 45 degrees and cook 3 minutes more or until the burgers are about 5 degrees shy of your desired internal temperature.
Waste the burgers with the remaining Asian sauce. Tent with foil and allow to rest.
While the burgers are resting, divide the rice into 4 even portions and press into a patty shape using a burger press or jar ring covered with plastic wrap.
Place the rice patties on the bottom bun.
Place the burger on top of the rice patty.
Top the burgers with the thinly sliced carrots and radishes and other toppings of your choice.
Drizzle the burger with more Asian sauce, soy sauce, and sesame if desired before serving.

Nutrition Information

Yield

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 807Total Fat 36gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 151mgSodium 1226mgCarbohydrates 63gFiber 2gSugar 16gProtein 54g