Cooking with Caitlin: The spicy, saucy burger you've been waiting for

Cooking with Caitlin
The General Wong Burger

Caitlin Steininger is the chef and Kelly Trush is the voice behind Cooking with Caitlin. Find recipes, how-to videos and a calendar of all their live events at cookingwithcaitlin.com. Find more of their recipes at the bottom of this page.

Here begins a delicious little love note to our dear friends, the Wong Family, as they celebrate their 40th year of making food magic and family memories in Cincinnati. In the last several years, they started bottling their sauces – a gift to all of us hungry fans – and the burger here is our favorite reason to use it.

General Wong sauce perfectly complements a beefy burger. The red onions add texture, bite and heat, and the bleu cheese topper finishes the stack with moisture and richness.

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GENERAL WONG BURGER

Yield: 12 sandwiches. Prep time: 10 minutes. Cooking time: 10-15 minutes.

3 pounds ground beef

3/4 cup Oriental Wok’s General Wong Sauce

hot pickled onions

bleu cheese cream sauce

12 dinner rolls

1. Preheat your grill.

2. Combine your ground beef and General Wong Sauce in a bowl. Mix together until evenly combined and form into 12 equal patties.

3. Place your burgers on the grill. Let cook approximately 5 minutes on the first side, and 4-5 minutes on the second side, or until it is cooked to your desired doneness.

4. After your burgers are cooked to your preferred doneness, remove from the grill and let rest.

5. To assemble your sandwiches, place your burger on the bottom of the bun, top with hot pickled onions and a spoonful of the bleu cheese cream sauce. Finish with the top of the bun and serve right away.

The General Wong Burger

Hot pickled onions:

1 large red onion

1 cup white distilled vinegar

1/2 cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons kosher salt

2 dried bay leaves

3 cloves garlic

1 fresh serrano chile

1. First, smash the garlic cloves. Remove the tops of the chiles and cut lengthwise.

2. Next, cut the top and bottom off the onion. Carefully remove the outer layer and cut the onion into 1/2-inch-thick rounds.

3. In a medium sauce pan, bring all but the onions to a boil; stir frequently so the salt and sugar dissolve. Boil for 2 minutes, and then turn off the heat. Throw in the onion rings and let the flavors steep together as the contents cool completely.

4. Store your spicy pickled onions in an airtight container up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Bleu cheese cream sauce:

1 cup cream

1/2-1 cup bleu cheese *as much or as little as you like*

1. Combine the cream and bleu cheese in a small sauce pot. Bring to medium-low heat, stirring continually. Allow the cheese to melt and the cream to come to a boil.

2. Once the cream comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let it cool.

3. Store in an air-tight container and serve over everything.

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