Hear me out: The Whopper is the best type of burger
The Whopper is the best type of burger. Not BK’s specifically, the combination of ingredients that goes into it.
Sesame seed bun, flame-grilled beef patty, a slice of cheese, pickles, tomato, sliced onion, lettuce, mayo. That’s it. Every part of it earns its place, which is more than I can say for most burgers with a truffle aioli.
The original Whopper with Cheese from Burger King has all of it. Is it actually the best burger experience out there though? Probably not.
Luckily, here in Te Awa Kairangi, there are lots of local options. Most of them don’t have a Whopper on the menu, but you can get most of the way there if you know how to hack it.
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McDonald’s has The Boss: two quarter-pound beef patties, dual cheeses, lettuce, onion, tomato, ketchup, and mustard on a sesame seed bun. A tweak or two and you’re close.
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My personal favourite, Dirty Burger, doesn’t have one. I start with the Plain Jane and add ketchup, mayo, red onion, tomato, and lettuce. They use brioche instead of sesame seed buns, which is the one thing I’d change.
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Gorillaburger doesn’t have a clone either. Start with The O.G, add lettuce and tomato. No mayo here though. I hope that the gorillas sauce comes through!
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Burger Fuel’s C N Cheese is grass-fed NZ beef, melted cheddar, truffle mascarpone, grated parmesan, salad, relish, and Burger Fuel Aioli on a sesame seed bun. Get rid of the parmesan and mascarpone, add some pickle, and that should be a pretty decent Whopper clone.
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Burger Wisconsin do the Wisconsin W/ Cheese with Angus beef, Colby cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, mayo, and sweet tomato relish on a wholemeal sesame seed bun. Most of the way there, just add pickle.
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Cheddar are newer around here. Their Cheddar Burger is beef, cheddar cheese, mayo, lettuce, red onion, and tomato on a potato bun. Add ketchup and you’ve got a Cheddar Whopper.
You can do it at home too. Kenji’s Homemade Burger King Whopper-Style Cheeseburgers is the recipe I’ve used.
So that’s the Whopper. Local joints or your own kitchen, the combo is the thing, not the brand.
I’m going to keep track of these. Any burger I can talk into being a Whopper goes on the list.
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