The flavors of Viet Nam speak out loud and strong in this next burger. They were indeed the jumping off point for me in building this Asian influenced burger. You knew I had to do one, right?

After my love affair with the banh mi blossomed in San Francisco recently. I immediately began planning this burger. In fact it is where the whole idea of a week of burgers began. It was an excuse to make this burger. Hey! If Spud can do it with potatoes, then this is not such a far reach for Sup!

I used pork, which was an easy choice for me. I love pig in all forms. I also added several of the classic ingredients you find in banh mi. But that is where the similarities end.

While, I could have placed this burger onto a crunchy baguette, and called it a banh mi pork burger (and I thought about that). I decided to follow another Vietnamese food tradition and wrap this burger in a big lettuce leaf.

I also tucked in a salad-like mix of traditional banh mi toppings like: carrots, daikon, and cilantro. These were simply dressed with limejuice, fish-sauce, and coriander. I also used super hot Thai bird peppers (prik chi fa) instead of jalapeno because I had them handy.

Why does America love burgers?

Why are burgers considered so very American?

What does our love of the burger say about us?

I could easily adopt the burger attitude of the moment and rail against the burger. I could make all the heart attack on a bun jokes that are so trendy right now. But I am not gonna…

Because I love a good burger.

Lest you think that I am some sort of fallen foodie. Let me remind you that Julia Child had an In-N-Out Burger delivered to her hospital room after recovering from surgery and Thomas Keller is flipping burgers in Napa County at Ad Hoc now.

So you see burgers are an American Institution whose power lies in it’s iconoclasm and it’s decidedly simple virtues. In other words, a burger is iconic simplicity. Which is the same as “mom and apple pie” in my book.

So I do understand that burgers have a well-deserved place in American folklore. And I can believe that the humble hamburger really does say something about being an American.