{"id":29399,"title":"Hambagu – Japanese Hamburger Steak","modified":"2025-02-09T11:48:01+01:00","plain":"Not quite a hamburger, almost a steak... rather a perfect in-between. This Japanese twist with red wine sauce and ketchup will delight the most indecisive fans of Japanese yoshoku cuisine! \n\n\n\nThe hamburger, that's a little guilty pleasure we mostly attribute to American cuisine. We love it for its indulgent and rich nature. In Japan, it's completely reinvented, but that doesn't mean it loses any of its flavor. Here, the hamburger is stripped of its bun.    \n\n\n\nOn the menu: juicy pork and beef patty garnished with minced onions, topped with a red wine sauce with powerful umami flavors... Curious recipe? Delicious, above all! \n\n\n\nFor burger fans, check out my Big Mac recipe\n\n\n\nWhat is Hamb\u0101gu? \n\n\n\nYou could have guessed it yourself. \u201cHamb\u0101gu\u201d sounds very much like \u201chamburger\u201d. Except that unlike the idea we have of a hamburger with its traditional sesame seed bun, beef patty, slice of cheddar, and so on, \u201cHamb\u0101gu\u201d (\u30cf\u30f3\u30d0\u30fc\u30b0) simply translates to \u201cJapanese hamburger steak\u201d.   \n\n\n\nYou read that right, no bun in the equation. It's usually served with rice instead. Makes it more Japanese, doesn't it? You can just as well accompany it with saut\u00e9ed vegetables, potatoes... Here, I personally chose to serve it with a garnished salad.    \n\n\n\nHamb\u0101gu is actually a very popular dish from Yoshoku cuisine, a kind of Japanese cuisine that draws heavily from Western cuisine. Remember, this is also the case for Tonkatsu, Japanese potato salad or Omurice.  \n\n\n\nSo it's normal that some of these dishes seem strangely familiar to you despite everything. For those interested in English cuisine, some say that Hamb\u0101gu is a Japanese version of Salisbury Steak.  \n\n\n\nThere are many variants of Hamb\u0101gu that include different sauces, such as Wafu Hamb\u0101gu (soy sauce and grated daikon) or Teriyaki Hamb\u0101gu (yes, like in teriyaki chicken!). \n\n\n\nMy Teriyaki Chicken Recipe\n\n\n\nThe toppings can also vary greatly, it's not uncommon to accompany Hamb\u0101gu with saut\u00e9ed shimeji mushrooms or a fried egg. However, as far as we're concerned, the sauce we're interested in today contains red wine and ketchup \n\n\n\nWhat's the Difference Between Hamb\u0101gu and Hambaga? \n\n\n\nThere are always little subtleties to know in Japanese cuisine, and this one particularly deserves to be noted. In Japan, there's Hamb\u0101gu but also Hambaga.  \n\n\n\nJust one letter changes, and yet there's a real difference between the two dishes. Hamb\u0101gu is not a hamburger in the strict sense. On the other hand, Hambaga clearly is, right down to the pronunciation.   \n\n\n\nDoesn't it sound like a phonetic language version of the word \u201chamburger\u201d with an American accent? In any case, Hambaga refers to the American-style hamburger. It's considered a \u201cforeign\u201d dish for Japanese people, even if it can include typically Asian toppings, like shirasu (sardines) or breaded shrimp patties.   \n\n\n\nWhere Does Hamb\u0101gu Come From? \n\n\n\nHamb\u0101gu itself is a dish that quickly spread around the world in the 1800s. It was initially an initiative of German immigrants. Even if it's not typically Japanese, this recipe found its share of fans during the Meiji era (1868-1912), when Japan was looking for Western inspirations, a bit like nanban chicken  \n\n\n\nThe Delicious Nanban Chicken with Its Tartar Sauce\n\n\n\nBut then, how did Hamb\u0101gu become such a success? Historically, ground beef was consumed raw in some regions of Central Asia. Interesting anecdote: it was the Tatar horsemen who consumed it, which later inspired the famous steak tartare. Needless to say, in Europe, it quickly became popular, even to this day.    \n\n\n\nAround the 18th century, it was finally the inhabitants of Hamburg who created this dish of minced meat, molded into a steak, grilled and drizzled with sauce. This is the Hamburg steak that German immigrants exported to America. To say a few words about the hamburger, its exact origin is unknown. It was something quick and easy to consume for workers that allowed them to eat a Hamburg steak on the go.    \n\n\n\nIn Japan, it was actually forbidden to consume meat for several centuries. It was only during the Meiji period that this changed, when the Japanese began to model their diet on that of Westerners. For better or for worse.  \n\n\n\nHamburg steaks then managed to find a place on the menus of Yoshoku restaurants of the time. Even though meat was scarce for a while, especially during World War II, Hamburg steak began to be popular again from the 1950s. At that point, people started to more commonly refer to it as Hamb\u0101gu.   \n\n\n\nThe Main Ingredients of Hamb\u0101gu\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBeef and pork: in Japan, Hamb\u0101gu is generally prepared with a mixture of minced beef and pork. Some Japanese grocery stores even sell ready-to-use meat packs specially called Aibiki Niku (\u5408\u3044\u3073\u304d\u8089) so you don't have to buy the two types of meat separately. In this recipe, we'll make an exception, with a ratio of 130 grams of beef to 70 grams of pork.   \n\n\n\nPanko breadcrumbs: along with the egg, breadcrumbs make a good binder for meatballs or minced meat steaks. Panko is actually more suitable here as it's lighter yet gives more crunchiness to the dish.  \n\n\n\nRed wine: here's a little hint of acidity that makes Hamb\u0101gu much more interesting than it appears. It's the sauce that does justice to this dish, and a full-bodied wine will give it its character.  \n\n\n\nKetchup: can you imagine a burger without ketchup? It's different here, you might say, but ketchup brings a significant sweet note to the sauce.  \n\n\n\nWorcestershire sauce: it's also this that gives the Hamb\u0101gu sauce its dark brown color. Sweet and sour and slightly spicy, it's somewhat similar to the Chuno sauce that some Hamb\u0101gu recipes use, but still a bit more flavorful. Although English, this sauce is used in many Japanese dishes such as the tonkatsu pork sauce  \n\n\n\nLight soy sauce: a touch of salt that balances everything without disturbing the flavors of the red wine, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce. The flavors complement each other and that's the whole strength of Hamb\u0101gu.  \n\n\n\nTips for Successful Hamb\u0101gu\n\n\n\nWe want firm steaks that don't fall apart during cooking, and that's not always guaranteed even if we keep our fingers crossed. A little trick to maximize your chances: when forming the steaks, toss the meat mixture from your left hand to your right hand several times. Funny, but very practical.   \n\n\n\nThis helps release the air inside the meat and limit cracks during cooking. \n\n\n\nAlso, I recommend letting the already formed steaks cool in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes to solidify the fats. You'll take them out just before cooking.  \n\n\n\nAs for the sauce, make it in the same pan as the meat to deglaze all the juices. Guaranteed deliciousness!  \n\n\n\n\n\n\tHambagu - Japanese Hamburger Steak\n\t\t\n\t\tThe Delicious Recipe for Japanese Hamburger Steak\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tFor the meat130 g of beef (ground, use at least 15% fat content)70 g of pork (ground, use a cut with at least 30% fat content like pork belly)100 g of onion (very finely minced)10 g of butter (salt)10 g of panko breadcrumbs1 egg0.5 teaspoon salt0.5 teaspoon pepper0.25 teaspoon of nutmeg (powdered)For the hambagu sauce3 tablespoons of red wine3 tablespoons ketchup3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce1 teaspoon light soy sauce1 teaspoon of sugar10 g of butter (salt)1 tablespoon neutral oilFor the side dishA bit of saladGrated carrotsFor the garnishDried parsley\t\n\t\n\t\tHeat a pan over medium heat and melt the butter, add the onion and saut\u00e9 until golden, then remove from heat and let coolPut the ground beef and pork in a bowl and mix well, add the panko, \u201cegg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, then mix until\u201d you get a sticky textureAdd the cooled onions to the meat and mix wellDivide into equal portions and shape into oval pattiesHeat a pan over medium heat with oil, add the meat patties and brown them on both sidesCover and cook on low heat for about 3 minutes until cooked through, then remove and set asideIn the same pan, add the sauce ingredients and mix, heat over medium heat for about 3 minutes until the sauce thickens, then remove from heatArrange the side dishes on a plate, place the meat patties, pour the sauce over them, and sprinkle with dried parsley\t\n\t\n\t\tWe want firm patties that don't fall apart during cooking, and that's not always guaranteed even if we cross our fingers. Here's a little trick to maximize your chances: when shaping the patties, toss the meat mixture from your left hand to your right hand several times. It may seem funny, but it's quite practical.  \nThis helps release the air inside the meat and limit cracking during cooking.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tMain courseJapaneseBoeuf, Oeufs, Sauce soja light","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}