A traditional Dominican chimi sandwich made with fresh bread, ground beef, Dominican spices, shredded cabbage and mayo-ketchup special sauce!
Forget what youโve heard, Chimichurri is not only a delicious Argentinian sauce! In fact, itโs an equally delicious Dominican Burger that you typically get late night and from a food truck. This burger is so iconic that the trucks themselves are nicknamed โChimi Trucksโ after this amazing burger.
A Dominican chimi burger is super personal. Like many food trucks, thereโs a special sauce and recipe to each of them. No two Chimis taste alike, and thatโs one of the best things about this dish. In fact, everyone has a favorite chimi truck precisely because of the special way that they make chimichurri Dominicano (Dominican Chimi Sandwich)
What is Chimichurri Dominicano (Dominican Chimi Sandwich)?
Chimichurri Dominicano is a Dominican sandwich made with ground beef or thin steak that is seasoned with traditional Dominican spices. The meat is quickly grilled topped with pickled shredded cabbage that you can also quickly pan sear. In the end, this classic Dominican street food is topped with a homemade special sauce made with mayonnaise and ketchup! Itโs my favorite late night snack along with other chimi truck classics like Longaniza Frita, Tostones, Classic Carne Frita Dominicana, Air Fryer Carne Frita Dominicana, and Arepitas de Yuca.
What Bread Should I Use to Make Chimichurri Dominicano (Dominican Chimi Sandwich)?
Before we jump right into the recipe, I want to note that thereโs a science to a Chimi. Every Chimi starts off with amazing bread. What kind of bread you use all comes down to what you have access to.
You can use pan de agua, Portuguese bread, and even Cuban bread. I always go for Portuguese bread unless of course itโs sold out. If thatโs the case, then here a few other substitutions:
Bread Substitutions When Making Chimichurri Dominicano:
- Hero Roll
- Italian Bread
- Regular Rolls
- Hamburger Buns *last resort unless youโre making Dominican Chimi Burger*
In the end, use a bread that has some rigidity to the outside but soft on the inside. You want to use a bread that will stand up to the other juicy elements of this burger.
How Do You Make Dominican Chimi Special Sauce?
Speaking of juicy elements, no Chimichurri is complete without the special sauce! Can a burger truly be great without its own special sauce? Unlike most special or secret sauces, this Dominican special sauce is super easy to make. All you need is ketchup and mayonnaise. You can also add extra vinegar and sugar if you want the Dominican chimi sauce to be more tart, acidic, and sweet.
Like many traditional and sacred recipes, everyone likes their special sauce a certain way. Some like more mayo than ketchup, while others like equal parts. There are few who even like the special sauce to be separated and not pre-mixed. I personally like my mayo-ketchup with a bit more ketchup than mayonnaise! I also insist on using Hellmannโs Mayonnaise. Itโs the New Yorker in me!
How Do I Prepare The Meat for Chimichurri Dominicano?
Now the next layer of the Dominican Chimi is arguably the most important. Itโs the meat! The meat is one of the hardest elements to nail down because you can use a variety of different meats. You can use a thin steak or you can use ground beef. Regardless of what you use, it has to be something juicy yet relatively inexpensive. Remember, weโre making a classic street food that will feed the masses especially after a long night of drinking and dancing.
Iโve made Dominican chimi using both ground beef and chuck steak. My favorite way of making it is by using ground beef because I have better control. I can also shape the meat into large thin patties that cook up quickly and evenly. Having the meat be thin is classic when making chimichurri Dominicano.
Key Ingredients Needed To Make Chimichurri Dominicano (Dominican Chimi Sandwich)
- Ketchup
- Grass-fed Ground Beef or Thin Steak
- Dominican Orรฉgano
- Dominican Soy Sauce
- White Distilled Vinegar
- Garlic
- Fresh Lime
- Shredded Cabbage
- Pan de Agua or Portuguese Bread
- Mayonnaise
Do You Need to Cook The Cabbage to Make a Traditional Dominican Chimi Sandwich?
The cabbage in a Dominican chimi is arguably my favorite part of the dish. You can choose to quickly pan sear or grill the cabbage with salt, white vinegar, and a dash of Dominican soy sauce. You can also choose to leave the cabbage and gently pickle it in cold water, kosher salt, and white distilled vinegar. Iโm personally a huge fan of the raw pickled cabbage. I find that leaving the cabbage raw has a better texture and crunch. It also has a distinct flavor that doesnโt get muddled with the same seasoning from the meat. Regardless of how you prepare the cabbage for your Dominican chimi, just know that itโs a key element!
I should also mention Dominicans love cabbage. Substituting the cabbage with iceberg or even romaine lettuce simply will not work. Cabbage salad with thinly sliced red onions and tomatoes is actually a traditional Dominican recipe. All in all, Dominicans treat cabbage with a lot of love. We pickle it just a bit with water, white vinegar, and salt. This softens the cabbage a bit, and gives it an awesome flavor. Fun fact, preparing cabbage this way also breaks down the element that makes cabbage gas-y. I honestly didnโt realize that cabbage made you gas-y until I ate it raw without vinegarโฆ. Not fun.
Once youโve added the cabbage to your Dominican Chimi, you can essentially free-style the rest. You could add onions and tomatoes, or you could skip out. My mom always adds hot sauce to hers and some of my younger cousins even add cheese. Traditionally, a Chimi must have:
- Pan de Agua or other fresh bread
- Dominican Special Sauce (mayo-ketchup)
- Flavorful yet juicy meat– (ground beef or steak)
- Pickled Cabbage with red onions and a tomato
I would highly recommend adding thinly sliced red onions and having those same onions get pickled with the cabbage and tomatoes. The end result is out of this world!
Recommended Tools for Making The Best Chimichurri Dominicano At Home:
- Stovetop Griddle
- Smokeless Indoor Grill
- Burger Press
- Mortar & Pestle (Pilon)
- Meat Tenderizer *if needed if choosing to use thinly sliced steak
Hungry yet? Letโs dig into this recipe! Feel free to visit my YouTube Channel: Chef Zee Cooks for step-by-step instructions on How to Make Chimichurri Dominicano | Dominican Chimi
Donโt forget to Pin this yumminess to your Pinterest Boards!
Buen Provecho!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Ground Beef 80/20 Blend
- 8 Garlic Cloves Mashed
- ยฝ tsp Kosher Salt
- 2 ยฝ tsp Whole Dominicano Orรฉgano
- ยฝ Fresh Lime
- 1 tbsp Chicken Bouillon
- 1 head Cabbage Thinly Sliced
- ยฝ cup White Distilled Vinegar
- ยผ cup Water
- 3 Tomatoes Thinly Sliced
- ยผ Red Onion Thinly Sliced
- โ cup Ketchup
- โ cup Mayonnaise
- Pan de Agua or Portuguese Bread
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, add ketchup and mayonnaise. Mix together until it well combined. Optional - you can add extra sugar and vinegar if you want sauce to be more acidic and sweet. Set special sauce aside
- In a large mixing bowl, add the thinly sliced red onions and shredded cabbage. Then add white distilled vinegar, cold water, and pinch of kosher salt. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients. Note that mixture is meant to be more vinegar than water
- In a mortar & pestle (pilon),ย mash together garlic cloves, salt, and Dominican oregano. Mash until you form a paste and set aside
- In a large mixing bowl, add ground beef, garlic and Dominican oregano paste, chicken bouillon, and the juice of 1/2 fresh lime. Optional - you can also add a dash of Dominican soy sauce. Mix until well combined
- Next, form thin Dominican chimi sandwich patties the same size as the bread that you're going to use. Feel free to make them a bit thicker and wider since they will get smaller as they cook. As you form the patties, set them aside onto parch parchment and chill for 20 minutes before cooking.
- Warm up stovetop griddle or indoor smokeless grill over medium heat.ย Lightly brush the surface with olive oil and carefully place 2-3 patties to cook. Feel free to use a burger press to keep the patties thin. You can also press down on the patties using a spatula. After 2 minutes, gently flip the patties making sure not to break the patty apart. Continue cooking patties for 3 minutes.ย The Dominican Chimi patties are done when they have developed a brownish color. Be careful not to burn or over cook the meat. Once the meat is cooked through set aside
- Afterwards, slice bread in half and toast on griddle.ย Once bread is toasted, build chimi to your liking. Begin by adding special sauce (mayo-ketchup), the chimi patty, and finish byย adding the pickled cabbage. When adding the cabbage, be sure to drain any access vinegar-water. In the end, add tomatoes, and red onions. Enjoy Dominican Chimi Sandwich while it's warm. Feel free to wrap in aluminum foil to keep is toasty.