Shrimp Burgers

By Mark Bittman

Published May 25, 2004

  • Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(1,245)
Comments
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You can make a burger out of anything, as most home cooks know; the challenge is in choosing a central element that delivers superior flavor and texture. Shrimp, like scallops, contain a high amount of natural gelatin, which allows you to incorporate a considerable amount of flavorings without worrying about the burger falling apart. If you purée just a portion of the shrimp, leaving the rest — along with the flavorings — just roughly chopped, you produce a good-textured burger with powerful flavor. Feel free to vary the heat, reducing or increasing the amount of chile. And as with any burgers, these can be seasoned pretty much according to your whim. No grill? Go ahead and pan-fry these burgers with a little bit of oil over medium-high heat.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 1 large clove garlic, peeled

  • 1 dried or fresh chile, stemmed, seeded and deveined, or more to taste

  • 1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

  • 1 ½ pounds peeled shrimp, deveined if you like

  • ¼ cup roughly chopped shallots, scallions or red onion

  • ¼ cup roughly chopped red or yellow bell pepper, optional

  • Salt and pepper

  • ½ cup cilantro leaves, or to taste

  • Neutral oil, like corn or canola, as needed

  • Toasted buns, optional

  • Lime wedges or ketchup for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

6 grams carbs; 274 milligrams cholesterol; 193 calories; 2 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 522 milligrams sodium; 35 grams protein; 1 gram sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Start a charcoal or gas grill; fire should be moderately hot and rack about 4 inches from heat source.

  2. Step 2

    Combine garlic, chili, ginger and ⅓ of the shrimp in a food processor and purée, stopping machine to scrape down sides of container as necessary. Add remaining shrimp along with shallots, bell pepper, salt, pepper and cilantro, and pulse as many times as necessary to chop shrimp, but not too finely. Shape mixture into 4 patties. Chill for 15 to 20 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Brush grill or patties lightly with oil and place them on grill. Cook undisturbed until a dark crust appears on bottom and they release fairly easily with a spatula, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes on the other side. Serve on buns or not, as you like, with ketchup or lime juice as a condiment.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
1,245 user ratings
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Comments

Thomas Sherman

A fabulous recipe and another family favorite, frequently served with an avocado aioli: 1 avocado, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1 tbs lime juice, 2 cloves garlic, 1 serrano chile, 2 tbs cilantro, salt & pepper. Highly recommended. Save the shrimp shells for making shrimp stock.

Christine

These were excellent, absolutely delicious. We found them to be too much of a mouthful as a burger, so the second time we rolled half the batch into balls to stuff into a roll for a bahn mi-like sandwich, and we crumbled up the other half and cooked it like sausage that we added to a Vietnamese-style rice noodle and herb salad with a fish sauce and lime dressing.

Su

What kind of shrimp work best here?

Meghan

Maybe it’s my gas grill but they completely fell apart on the grill even after I had them in the freezer for 40 minutes. Next time I’ll do it on the stove or broiler.

Dawn

I made 2 batches, and the batch that was in the fridge closer to an hour held together much better than the first batch

Kayandallie

pretty much a failure for me. I tried to not get the second shrimp processing too small but ended up with chunks of too large shallot pieces that then didn't cook. down in the bugers. I think I'm going to throw out all the remaining burgers I didn't cook. i think this was an expensive fail.

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