Lucky Peach Lamb Burgers

Name: Lucky Peach Lamb Burgers
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 burgers
Cuisine: american, chinese
Ingredients: 1 pound ground lamb; 1 tablespoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and crushed (optional); 1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes; 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt; 1 tablespoon neutral oil, like canola; 1 small red onion, halved, peeled and thinly sliced; 1 jalapeño, halved, seeded and thinly sliced; Potato buns, for serving; Cilantro leaves, for serving

Recipe from Peter Meehan

Adapted by Sam Sifton

Lucky Peach Lamb Burgers — Grant Cornett for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop Stylist: Rebecca Bartoshesky.

Total Time: About 20 minutes
Rating: 5(758)
Comments: Read comments

Peter Meehan developed this dish for Lucky Peach's cookbook, "101 Easy Asian Recipes." I make it on a flat-top griddle set over a grill, but the method works equally well on your kitchen stove. The burgers are a take on a dish served in Xi’an, the capital city of Shaanxi province in northwestern China, at the easternmost terminus of the Silk Road. Cumin and chile, along with some Sichuan peppercorns if you can find them, bring a bright funkiness to ground lamb, which crisps up beautifully on top of a bed of sautéed red onion and jalapeño pepper. Put the patties into potato buns, and serve under a spray of cilantro leaves. It's a meal you could cook twice a month for the better part of a year. —Sam Sifton

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Ingredients

Yield:4 burgers

1pound ground lamb
1tablespoon ground cumin
1teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, toasted and crushed (optional)
½teaspoon red chile flakes
1½teaspoons kosher salt
1tablespoon neutral oil, like canola
1small red onion, halved, peeled and thinly sliced
1jalapeño, halved, seeded and thinly sliced
Potato buns, for serving
Cilantro leaves, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Create a flat-top cooking surface on a gas grill by using a couple of large cast-iron skillets, or a thick metal sheet like a Baking Steel, or soapstone cooking tiles. Light the grill, and set the burners to medium. Lower top of grill, and allow it heat.
Step 2
Gently combine the lamb, cumin, Sichuan peppercorns, chile flakes and salt in a large bowl, then form into four equal-size balls.
Step 3
Raise the lid of your grill, add the oil to the cooking surface and use a spatula to coat it, then place the onions and jalapeños on the surface, and fry them until lightly browned but still crunchy, approximately 3 to 5 minutes.
Step 4
Separate the vegetables into four piles with a good amount of space between them. (If using two pans, each pan should contain two piles.) Top each pile with one of the balls of meat. Use the spatula to smash the balls into flat patties, approximately ½ inch thick. Cook until the bottom of each patty is well browned and the meat is opaque about halfway to the top, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Flip each patty, and cook through, approximately 3 minutes for medium.
Step 5
Place patties on buns, and top each one with cilantro leaves.

Ratings

5 out of 5

758 user ratings

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Comments

Tinarina7 years ago

Because I could eat the cumin lamb noodles from Xian Famous Foods at least weekly, I had to try these. Really good, but next time I'll use a bit more of all the spices--especially cumin. I need some practice getting the onions and jalapenos to adhere to the meat--one was perfect and the rest not quite. I used good quality toasted English muffins instead of potato rolls, since they remind me of Chinese flatbread. Good combo!

Mary McAlpin7 years ago

We made them once according to the recipe. Then we tried it with ground turkey. A marriage made in heaven!

Naani-Daadi7 years ago

I've cooked an Indian version of this. I use finely chopped medium hot green chillies and as always, add a pinch of turmeric and another thumbful of finely grated ginger. Also, I serve it on a whole wheat Naan bread, rolled up. Ypogurt raita on the side is essential. So glad that you are exposing us all to global cuisine and allowing us to add our comments, and benefit from yours. Thanks.

BStar10 months ago

I was so thrilled to see this recipe. I raced out to the store to get lamb and buns and peaches (I had everything else on hand). Imagine my surprised when I started to cook that THIS RECIPE DOES NOT CALL FOR PEACHES!!! Not to be deterred I halved and pitted the peaches, added a bit of brown sugar and grilled them along side the burgers until they were nice and juicy. Opposite the jalapenos and onions, no need for Bushel & Peck's Peach Jalapeno Mustard.

Laura G.1 year ago

Easy, fun, tasty. I cooked these on a griddle indoors. Not having Szechuan peppercorns, I used a good spoonful of a Szechuan chili crisp to replace both the peppercorns and the red pepper flakes--worked nicely. Smeared the buns with a little greek yogurt. Next time, I might toast and crush cumin seeds for a slightly deeper flavor than the ground cumin gives.

Jen in Astoria1 year ago

OK, have had these in regular rotation for a while now. A few observations: --The only thing this needs is a dab of mayo--preferably Kewpie -- on top of each burger to glue on the cilantro, and tie everything together. --This go around, I used fancy lamb that was ground more coarsely than usual, and it was a phenomenal upgrade. If you can get ground to order, get a coarse grind. --Lastly, do NOT omit the Szechuan peppercorns,

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