Burger (Cuban Frita Cubana)

Frita Cubana (or simply frita) is a burger variety with Cuban origins. It was invented in Havana in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s (there's still no consensus). Originally, these burgers were sold by friteros from their stands, called puestos. The burgers were made with Cuban rolls, ground beef, onions, seasonings such as smoked paprika (pimentón), and julienned potatoes. In 1962, Ramon Estevill brought the burgers to Miami when he opened his small eatery. Nowadays, El Rey De Las Fritas is the most popular frita joint in Miami, and the fritas are made with a spicy tomato sauce, ground beef, a soft bun, red onions, and salty shoestring potatoes.

Special Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
¼ cup water
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1½ tsp. sweet Spanish paprika
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. dried oregano
½ tsp. sriracha

Shoestring Potatoes:
4 russet potatoes
1 cup vegetable oil, for frying

Burgers:
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
2 Tbsp. garlic, finely minced (` 4 cloves)
1½ cups yellow onion, finely minced, divided (½ cup will be used to top the cooked burgers)
3 Tbsp. ketchup
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground sweet Spanish paprika
2 tsp. ground smoked paprika (sweet not spicy)
1½ tsp. sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Assembly:
8 Cuban rolls, brioche rolls or hamburger buns, toasted
lettuce leaves

Make the Special Sauce:
Mix all of the ingredients together in a small saucepan: ketchup (1 cup), water (¼ cup), vinegar (1 Tbsp.), sweet paprika (1½ tsp.), cumin (1 tsp.), salt (1 tsp.), oregano (½ tsp.) and sriracha (½ tsp.). Cook at a gentle simmer, partially covered, for 5 minutes. Sauce can be made a day ahead and refrigerated until ready to use.

Make the Shoestring Potatoes:
Peel the potatoes and shred them on a box grater or in your food processor with the coarse shredding blade. Swish them in a bowl of cold water, pour out cloudy water, and repeat until the water is clear. Just before frying, drain them in a colander and dry them well by squeezing them between several clean absorbent dish towels. The dryer the better for getting them crisp and brown. Pour oil into a heavy, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and fry the potatoes, in small batches, until they’re golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt.

Make the Burger:
Make the meat mixture in a large bowl or in a food processor. Combine ground meats with 1 cup of the onions and the garlic (2 Tbsp.). Mix by hand or pulse a few times in the food processor, to combine. Add ketchup (3 Tbsp.), cumin (1 tsp.), paprika (2 tsp.), smoked paprika (2 tsp.) and 1½ tsp. of salt. Mix by hand or pulse just until combine. Form the meat into 8 thin patties.

Cook patties in batches, on a preheated flat griddle or in a frying pan coated with a little vegetable oil, over medium heat, for 2-4 minutes per side or until they’re cooked to your liking. (I suggest medium rare to medium). Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Assemble the Fritas:
Spread some special sauce over the bottom half of a bun. Place a patty on top, add more sauce, some finely chopped raw onion and a big pile of shoestring fried potatoes. Spread a little sauce on the inside of the top bun and place it on top. Repeat with remaining burgers. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 burgers.

Cook's Notes: If you don’t feel like frying potatoes you can substitute crunchy store-bought potato sticks such as French’s.