Have you ever eaten something so amazingly good, that you got mad at yourself for not thinking of it first? I wish I could take the credit for the brilliance that is this recipe. This sandwich reminds me of a really good crab cake (only much less expensive), the flavor is fantastic, there isn’t a lot of filler, and then you top it with a creamy avocado garlic mayonnaise. IT’S GENIUS. Although at first glance the recipe looks daunting, it is really easy. It is basically using your food processor to mix up two batches of food. The first, being the burgers themselves. After the burgers are prepped, you are just combining a few more ingredients for the aioli (garlic mayonnaise). Don’t let the peppers in this recipe scare you, the poblano is relatively mild and the serrano pepper, once the seeds are removed, is pretty harmless.Throw away any misconceptions you may have about fish on a sandwich, this is truly a work of art!
You can find the original recipe here. I only adjusted one or two ingredients, but mostly I changed preparation and cooking methods within the recipe.
Enjoy!
Mexican Shrimp Burgers
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled and deveined (fresh is best but I have used frozen uncooked shrimp-must be defrosted)
1 egg
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
2 garlic clove, peeled
3/4 cup plain bread crumbs, plus more as needed
1 poblano chile, roasted, peeled, stemmed, seeded, and diced (never roasted a pepper? see bottom of page for directions)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Avocado Aioli:
1 Hass avocado, halved, pitted, and peeled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1 serrano chile, stemmed, halved and seeded
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 hamburger buns, split in half
2 medium tomatoes, sliced
6 lettuce leaves or a mixture of baby lettuce leaves
Directions
Burgers:
In a food processor, combine the shrimp, egg, cilantro, garlic, 3/4 cup bread crumbs, poblano chile, salt, and pepper. Process until the mixture is a coarse puree. (If the mixture is too wet, add additional bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture can be molded easily). Form the mixture into 6 patties and put on a plate and store in the fridge to firm up while you make your aioli.
Avocado Aioli:
Scoop the avocado pulp into the bowl of a food processor. Add the mayonnaise, lime juice, garlic cloves, serrano chile and cilantro. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Heat the oil over medium-medium high heat in a non stick skillet. (because the shrimp doesn’t have a lot of fat, the oil will help develop a nice crust). Add burgers to pan, gently sear until golden, about 3 minutes per side, depending on the thickness. I covered my burgers while cooking to ensure that the shrimp would cook through. Once the burgers are done you can assemble your sandwich. I usually leave them covered off the heat while I prepare any last-minute details for dinner. Do not over cook the burgers! Like anything using shrimp, it will taste best when the shrimp are just cooked through.
To assemble:
Serve the shrimp burgers on buns, topped with a dollop (shovel full, truckload, bull dozer what ever your preference :)) of avocado aioli, sliced tomato, and lettuce. Well, I say lettuce, but apparently we were out of lettuce so instead I justified my lack of greens with the fact that both the cilantro and avocado could count towards my green-stuff category!
Tips on roasting peppers:
I only use two methods for roasting peppers, that I know of there aren’t too many other options. Over an open flame in my opinion is best because of the flavor but I have used the broiler method many times!
Grill (Gas stove or outdoor grill)
1. Wash and dry pepper
2. Place pepper on grate (flame should not be touching pepper)
3. Using tongs, rotate peppers as the skin chars and blisters.
4. Once charred, remove to a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap to cool and loosen the skin (approx 5-10 minutes)
5. Once cooled, using your hands or a paper towel, peel off the outer charred skin, cut off the top stem and scrape out seeds.
Broiler
1. Preheat broiler to high setting
2. Wash and dry pepper
3. Place pepper on a foil lined cookie sheet or sheet pan on the top rack of your oven
4. Using tongs rotate the pepper as the skin blisters and chars ( this may take 5-15 minutes depending on the size of the pepper)
5. See steps #4 and #5 of grilling instructions
