Pineapple Teriyaki Drip Jam Burgers
Think Hawaiian Burger, but better.
The Facts
Recently we were introduced to the world of drip jam burgers. These Pineapple Teriyaki Drip Jam Burgers are a sticky mess but packed full of sweet and savory flavor not typical of a burger. Given our immediate positive impressions we had to go on to examine more recipes and other adaptions. We decided to start with teriyaki pineapple burgers (Hawaiian style burgers). With the teriyaki they are already fairly messy, why not try to bring them on a new level with an upgrade from teriyaki sauce to a full blown teriyaki drip jam.
As a quick introduction, what is a drip jam burger? It’s just a regular burger with a drip jam, which is a thick, jam-like sauce with chunks of toppings in it (like onions or pineapples in this recipe). The key to a good a drip jam, we’ve discovered, is brown sugar. When incorporated with butter, water, soy sauce or another liquid and heated the brown sugar provides thickness and sweetness in one ingredient. This typically gets it to jam consistency, but it can still make the bun a bit soggy. In addition to a long cool time, we found adding a touch of corn starch gets it to the proper thickness so the burger does not fall apart.
For this drip jam specifically we wanted to fuse the spice of jalapenos (to complement the sweetness) with the staples of teriyaki. To do this we combined teriyaki’s key ingredients, garlic, ginger and soy sauce, and combined it with onions and jalapenos. To then add a touch of acid and sweetness we then incorporated a Hawaiian burgers staple ingredient, pineapple, and diced it into the drip jam as well. After 30 minutes on the stove it became a complex multi-part flavor that captured the essence of a spicy drip jam and a Hawaiian burger.
For the patty, we didn’t do anything to fancy with the marinade. There are hundreds of marinade ideas out there, even for teriyaki burgers specifically. However, the drip jam is already flavor-packed so we kept it simple with just brown sugar, sesame oil and soy sauce. With sweet Hawaiian buns, a slice of pineapple and some cilantro, this burger is likely to impress existing fans of the Hawaiian burger and make new fans for those who have yet to try it!