I’ve loved Big Kahuna burgers since I first met Red Robin’s version in high school. They’re a bit of a balancing act, though. Between the pineapple and the teriyaki sauce, it’s real easy to go overboard. Go out of balance and you end up with a sweet, sugary mess…

…or not impressing this guy enough to save you after pissing off Marselis Wallace.
I’ve been jonesing a good teriyaki burger for a few weeks and looking for a chance to tweak the teriyaki pineapple marinade in Flavorize. This was a win-win. The easy route would have been to just mix up the sauce, marinate the ground chuck, and slap it all together. It would also be, well, normal.
That’s why I spiced up Dr. BBQ’s sauce with a minced Thai chile from my garden, marinated the bacon instead, used a kona coffee rub on the beef, and went with a King’s Hawaiian hamburger bun. I was really happy with how everything balanced out; the Thai chile and some wasabi mayo offset the sweet with a spicy kick. Here’s the recipe.
[yumprint-recipe id=’17’]
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