Hamburguesa Peruana

Peruvian-Style Burger with Ají Amarillo Yogurt & Pickled Cucumbers

Hermanos, how we love them. One of my older brothers would sometimes stuff some cash in my pockets when he was hungry and send me out to a burger place in our neighborhood where some teenage gangs used to hang out. It wasn’t something you worried about; it was just life in Lima at the time. You didn’t want to lock yourself inside all day—burgers (and daily life) were calling.

For these neighborhood bullies, seeing a ten-year-old kid like me, so excited on his way to get fast food (it wasn’t all that different back then as today), was like winning the lottery. They knew I must have had cash in my pockets, and would chase after me and steal my money or whatever I had just bought. To outsmart them, I started going only at night, when it was difficult for them to see me. I’d take a different path home every time, running like a mouse in a maze when they spotted me. To me, it was a fun game. I was so proud whenever I managed to outsmart them.

Back then, your family had to be the cops. When another one of my brothers found out what was going on, he showed up and told my harassers what would happen if they kept messing with his little brother. If you’ve ever had older brothers, you know how it works—they challenge you (a nice way of saying kick your rear) but also protect you. That was the last I heard from those guys.

As for this recipe, in the mountains of Peru, locals cook with alpaca, which I thought would make a great burger. Alpaca tastes similar to lamb, only not as gamey. It’s worth looking for, but if you can’t find alpaca, a mix of lamb and beef is also great. I don’t recommend serving these burgers rare. The meat is more tightly packed than American-style burgers, so they take a little longer to cook—this is one time when cooking meat, for me at least, medium or medium-well is best. The yogurt sauce is really delicious with this meat mixture, but top the burgers with whatever you’d like.

Burgers

• 2 pounds mixed ground lamb and ground beef, or 2 pounds ground alpaca
• ¼ cup leftover bacon drippings or rendered pork belly fat, melted but not hot
• 3 tablespoons Anticucho Sauce (page 112)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste

To Assemble

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 lime
• 8 good-quality hamburger buns, lightly toasted
• Ají Amarillo–Cumin Yogurt Sauce (recipe) or good-quality mayonnaise, preferably Japanese
• 8 small Bibb or other crunchy lettuce leaves
• Sliced pickled cucumbers (see page 39) or fresh cucumber, preferably Japanese or Persian

1 To make the burgers, in a large bowl, mash together the ground lamb and beef with the heel of your hand until well combined. Pour in the bacon drippings and the anticucho sauce, and sprinkle the salt on the meat. Keep mashing the meat mixture together with your hands for several minutes. Really get in there with the heel of your hand. The ground meat should become almost silky in texture.

2 Separate the meat mixture into 8 equal portions. Slap each portion back and forth quickly between your hands a good 15 times, like you are slapping a baseball firmly into a glove (see sidebar, page 131). You should hear the meat slap against the palms of your hands as the air is removed from the patties. Shape each portion into a patty 4 to 5 inches wide, depending on the size of the burger buns. Use your thumb to make a small indention in the center of each patty.

3 Prepare a regular or hibachi grill for direct, medium-high-heat cooking. Season the patties with salt. Grill the burgers until they are nicely charred on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Do not lift the burgers as they cook. Flip the burgers (use a spatula to loosen the patties if they stick to the grill) and grill until the burgers are medium to medium-well, usually 5 to 8 minutes more if your grill is really hot.

4 To assemble, in a medium bowl, mash together the avocados with as much juice from the lime as you’d like. Spread both cut sides of each bun with the ají amarillo–cumin yogurt sauce and top the bottom bun with a few spoonfuls of mashed avocado, a lettuce leaf, and a burger patty. Arrange the cucumbers on top, close the burgers up, and serve any remaining ají amarillo–cumin yogurt sauce on the side.

Ají Amarillo–Cumin Yogurt Sauce

Makes 1 generous cup

This spicy yogurt makes a great spread for pita sandwiches, especially with leftover grilled flank steak or chicken, or even just a dip for crispy vegetables. Make it as spicy as you would like by adjusting the amount of ají amarillo paste.

• 1 cup whole-milk plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ají amarillo paste, store-bought or homemade (page 34)
• 2½ teaspoons ground cumin

Whisk together all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Whisk again before serving.

The “Baseball Burger” Method

A Japanese chef taught me how to make burger patties so they stay really moist and juicy. The technique is the polar opposite of the loosely packed patties on most American burgers. You slap the raw meat patties back and forth between the palms of your hands several times to remove most of the air, like tossing a baseball into a mitt—back and forth, back and forth. The process compacts the meat so the moisture stays inside the patty. The meat is pretty tightly packed, so the texture is a little denser than American-style burgers, but I really love the flavor and texture.