Hamburg (ハンバーグ) - Hamburger Steak
ハンバーグ, pronounced as "hanbaagu," is a popular Japanese food loved by all generations. It is similar to meatballs or hamburger patties, but shaped into oval or round patties and cooked with variety of different kind of sauces or toppings. Japanese Mom’s recipe is very juicy and the meat juices will come out when you first bite.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground meat 50% pork and 50% beef
- 1 medium size onion
- 1 egg
- 1 clove grated garlic
- 1 cup panko (breadcrumbs)
- ¼ cup sake
- ½ cup milk
- 1½ tbsp salt and pepper
Instructions
Preparation
- Chop the onion finely. Try Japanese "mijingiri" cutting technique:1. Cut the onion in half length-wise.2. Place the cut-side faced downwards and make 3mm incisions while leaving about 1/4 of the root intact.3. Rotate the onion 90 degrees and make 2-3 horizontal incisions with the knife laid flat.4. While holding firmly to prevent the incisions from spreading, start cutting vertically from the outer edge, continuing until you reach the root.
- Put the finely chopped onion into a heat resistance bowl and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Microwave at 700w for about 3 minutes, until the onion becomes slightly transparent. Remove from the microwave and allow to cool down to room temperature.
- While waiting for the onion to cool down, prepare the sides.
Making Patties
- Add all ingredients into the large mixing bowl: ground meat, cooled down chopped onion, egg, grated garlic, panko, sake, milk, salt, and pepper.
- Mix them very well using one hand, until it gets sticky.
- Divide into 6 portions, and shape them into oval with both hands. 【TIP】Using both hands, tap the patties as if playing catch to remove any trapped air inside.
Cooking
- Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in the pan with medium heat.
- Place the patties gently, and flip when it turns brown outside (about 3 minutes). Then, add carrots and cook them together with a lid on. The total cooking time should be about 15 minutes, but it may vary depend on the size of patties and heat.【TIP】Push the middle of patties, as they will expanded when cooking.【TIP】Try poking the patties with a skewer, and if clear meat juice come out, it's done!
- Enjoy hamburg with your choice of sauce/toppings!
Hamburg sauce
- When the patties are fully cooked, add 5 tbsp of ketchup and 5 tbsp of Japanese Worcestershire sauce (Tonkatsu sauce). Once the sauce starts to boil, it's ready.
Notes
Q: How to store Hamburg?
Wrap patties individually and store them in the freezer, and it should be good for a couple of weeks. Also can be stored in the fridge, and it should be good for a couple of days.