Thai Fusion Burger and Burger Chain Restaurants in the World

Happy National Burger Day! 

 

We love Thai food and when we found a burger patty that was inspired by Thai cuisine at Trader Joe’s frozen food aisle, we were so excited. As we looked at the ingredients list, we also found out it’s vegan friendly so the packet was sucked into our shopping basket in a snap. 

 

I like to make fusion food which has a nice exotic touch into it…because in that way, I can try new flavors and that might be my next favorite. 

 

Feeling like Thai fusion burgers now? Let’s see how I made it!

 

<Today’s Recipe>

Thai Fusion Burger

<Ingredients>

• 2 patties of Thai fusion burger patties from Trader Joe’s
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup daikon radish – finely shredded
• 1 medium carrot – finely shredded
• ¼ cup white distilled vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• A pinch of salt
• Some leafy lettuce
• Some slices of tomatoes

 

<Directions>

1. Marinate daikon and carrot with vinegar, sugar, and salt. Let it sit for about 2hrs or if possible, overnight.
2. Cook burger patty. Pour olive oil in a pan and bring it to medium high heat. Place the patty when the pan is hot and cook for about 3~5 min. Flip over and cook for another minute.
3. Build a burger and open your mouth biiiiig to gobble up!!

 

<Cooking Tips>

When you place marinated daikon and carrot on the burger, remove excessive liquid well to avoid the burger from getting soggy. 

That was amazing! Perfect way to celebrate National Burger Day and realizing  we love Thai flavored food!! 

 

Have you tried fusion burgers? If so, what kind of fusion burger was it?

 

<Ingredients Memo>

The burger patty I used: Thai Sweet Chili Veggie Burger from Trader Joe’s frozen food section

Contains: 4 patties. Each is individually packed like the picture above. 

Main ingredients: Cooked brown rice, carrots, cooked black rice, soy protein, canola oil, potato flakes, onion, water chestnuts, broccoli, red pepper, wheat gluten, sweet chili sauce etc…

 

Compared to other plant based burger patties, it has a variety of veggies and the main ingredient is rice! Isn’t it interesting that patties are made with rice? I think it was my first time trying a burger patty made of rice. As a result of lots of veggies and rice, the texture was fun. 

 

<Let’s Talk about Burgers from Burger Chains in the World>

Probably the most famous burger restaurant is McDonald’s. Even though it’s an American food chain, I grew up eating their burgers and fries…yes, McDonald’s are everywhere (and I still believe they make the BEST fries in the world!) 

 

Can you guess what Japanese McDonald’s speciality is? Well, Japanese McDonald’s always have seasonal speciality, but If you guess it’s a teriyaki burger, no, I don’t think so…it should be a shrimp filet burger! The patty is made with shrimp chunks and coated with panko crumbs. You’ll be amazed how the texture is fun and tasty with seafood patties! 

 

Oh by the way, if you visit Japan and want to order some fries, don’t call it “fries” because we never get what you’re talking about. We simply call fries “potato”… and the pronunciation is tricky here. We say “po-te-to,” not “po-tei-to-os.” Don’t worry about countable/uncountable, potato is always potato, no matter what size, how many of each packet they include! Now repeat after me…

 

 “Potato kudasai(give me)!”

 

Another burger chain I recommend is called “First Kitchen” located around the Tokyo area. Why I like this burger chain is that they serve great crunchy chicken burgers AND pasta. Especially they have cod roe pasta(明太子パスタ. Shown in the final pic of the page）which is popular Japanese fusion pasta dish, so I think this is a great place to try Japanese flavor with reasonable price too. 

 

Just be ready to hear strange words when you eat in this burger chain. We as Japanese like to shorten names, and “FIrst KItchN” is…well, sounds just like an English cursing word. So you’ll probably hear some teenagers talking through their phone like “Hey, I’m in Fxxckin,’ do you wanna come?”  Don’t worry, they’re just calling the restaurant name, not cursing around…but would it be a reason to avoid this place especially if you have kids? They probably should change the store name based on the fact that what people call their store name, but well, the food tastes great! 

 

And some of you here may chime in for the topic of burger chains serving pasta…yes, Jollibee from the Philippines! I only tried their burger/chicken combo a couple of times in LA, but not yet for their pasta. My friend told me Philippine’s “tomato” pasta uses banana ketchup so it’s quite sweet…and my friend always slid topic into how tasty their fried chickens were. Yes I agree, their chickens were so crispy and juicy, but I wonder if their pasta tastes good or…I might feel strange having sweet pasta? Maybe next time I find Jollibee, I’d give it a try at last. It’s a little hard finding Jollibee or even a Filipino restaurant here, so wish me luck!

 

Now let’s move on to talk about American burger chains. There are so many burger chains out there, and probably one of the most popular burger chains people keep talking about is “In-N-Out” but my personal recommendation is “Islands.” Well they’re not fast food restaurants like I listed up in the above, but If someone asks me to choose a burger chain, my vote goes to Islands. Since they are mostly located in Southern California, their menu has latin vibes and I love it! 

 

What’s your favorite burger chains/restaurant? Let’s talk about it and enjoy National Burger Day together! 

 

<Other Homemade Burger Ideas>

The sauce is amazing! Tofu Cilantro Burger

Ginger gives a nice touch! Ginger Teriyaki Burger

Enjoy home cooking and your own creation of homemade food:)