What's missing from a burger is the deep umami flavor in banh mi that you'll smell a mile away -- the fermented fish sauce taste that smells a bit like a ripe fart and tastes like heaven.
Is Vietnamese fish sauce stronger than Thai fish sauce? My parents cook Thai food, having lived in Bangkok for a few years, and fish sauce never registered as "smelly" to me.
It depends. The typical stuff, that most people encounter, the Vietnamese "version" (called "nước mắm"), has a lighter flavor than the Thai "version" because, as was told to me by my mother-in-law who grew up in Vietnam, the Vietnamese prefer it to not smell or taste like fish. But, there's another type of fish sauce, that is Vietnamese, that is a little more rare. It's called "mắm nêm" and it has a very, very, _very_ strong fish odor and taste. I tend to steer clear of it but my wife and mother-in-law love the stuff.
edit/ For reference, I'm just an average white guy from the midwest and I married a Chinese-American woman and now live in SoCal. Through her, I've discovered, and love, most of these foods. Vietnamese fish sauce doesn't really register as "fish" sauce to me, either, rather it just tastes quite salty.
There are huge differences in quality between brands. Many people swear by Squid, which I used to love, but having had Red Boat, let me attest: you can get the amazing flavor without the awful smell.
I think it really depends on how you grew up. I grew up around plenty of ingredients in my food that are just as pungent to smell, so fish sauce smells distinct but innocuous to me. But for some reason grated parmesan smells pretty bad to me even though it's delicious.
Nicely seasoned and cooked beef can get the umami, but a leaf of lettuce and a couple of tomato slices and pickles don't hold a candle to a big mouthful of pickled carrot/daikon and fresh cucumber and cilantro in a proper banh mi.
There's nothing fresh or fragrant-tasting in the average burger, unfortunately. When I think of my local favorites, they are practically veggie-free. The delicious Patrick's Cafe burger (French style), with finely chopped bacon/mushrooms/onions/ketchup fried into an almost black paste of pure umami... delicious, but not vegetable anymore. The famous Matt's Bar Jucy Lucy (yes, that's the right spelling), just meat and cheese and bun and some onions if you ask nicely. Total umami bomb, but none of the clean fresh taste of banh mi.
When I do burgers, I'm a big fan of adding home made pickled red cabbage to them, it gives them a really good clean, sour bite, very similar to carrot and daikon in banh mi.
To make it, I just bring to boil a mix of water, vinegar, salt, sugar, and spices (usually cloves and caraway), then pour it into a mason jar with the shredded cabbage, and put it in the fridge for a couple of days.
I've tried using sauerkraut, but it's a bit too pickled and mushy for burgers, and usually drips everywhere.
I agree, what you get in stores is an insult to the name. I used to make my own burgers from scratch each morning for breakfast, it wouldn’t take more than 20 minutes and in the days they came out just right.. mmm spectacular!
