Like Omurice and a lot of other Japanese dishes, this is also a Yoshoku (western-influenced dish). It is called Hamgagu in Japan. I bought this from a local Japanese grocer a few times. I always thought it was a meat ball until I was trying to figure out how to cook it. Unlike western hamburgers, this is served with rice not buns.
I later learned that there are variations of Japanese hamburger, such as Wafu Hambagu, Teriyaki Hambagu, Demi-glace Hambagu… There are also different topping options, like sauteed shimeiji mushrooms and a fried egg. The dish I bought came with mushrooms topping.
I have been living in the US for a long time, but I still don’t have a grill, and I don’t know how to cook good hamburgers. The main issue is that my hamburgers were always too dry. The Japanese hamburger nicely solves this issue. With milk and other ingredients to the meat and final sauce on the top, the Japanese hamburger is incredibly juice and tender. A good dish for lunch box.
Japanese hamburger 日式汉堡ハンバーグ
Equipment
- 12“ frying pan
- large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium onion
- 1 oz bread crumbs (panko)
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp milk
- 0.5 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 5-6 tbsp cooking wine
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 0.5 tsp salt
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion. Cook it at medium heat with a tbsp of oil for 3-4 mins. Divide the cooked onion into two portions
- Remove the package, and add the ground beef to the mixing bowl. Use a fork to break the slab and loosen it up
- Add black pepper, salt, egg, worcestershire sauce, milk, panko crumbs, and half of the cooked onion. Vigorouly mix for 4-5 mins
- Cover the cutting board with a piece of plastic wrap. Pour 2-3 tbsp oil to a small bowl
- Tap both hands to the oil and rub against each other to coat them with oil
- Divide the seasoned beef into 4-6 portions. Take one portion at each time. Toss the meat ball (pattie) between two hands for 10-15 times to drive out air in the meat and make the surface smooth
- Cover the patties with another piece of plastic wrap and rest for 30-40 mins
- Add all patties to the pan, and turn the heat to medium. Cook each side for 2-3 mins.
- Turn the heat to low. Add 3-4 tbsp cooking wine (or water, or red wine), and cover the pan with a lid, and cook for 5-6 mins. Poke the hamburger, and if the juice that comes out is clear, the cooking is done
- Take out the hamburgers. Remove excess amount of oil/grease. Add tomato paste (or ketchup), cooking wine (or water, red wine), the other half of the onion, and worcestershire sauce. Reduce at low to medium heat for 3-4 mins. Adjust taste with an addition of salt. Turn off the heat
- Add all the hamburgers to the pan to coat them with sauce
- Serve with fries or veggies
Video
Notes
- If you use 93% lean ground beef, you would need to add 1-2 tbsp oil when you cook the patties. On the other hand, if you use 80% lean beef, you don't need to add oil and would have to remove an excess amount of grease from the pan before making the sauce.
- The cooking time highly depends on the size of the patties. I found dividing the beef into 4 portions (each portion is about 4 oz) to be ideal.
- When chop the onion, I used a food processor. It turned out that's too fine.
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