Why This Recipe Works
Coarsely grated onions and cabbage serve as a reservoir of flavorful juices that gush out when you bite into the hamburger steak. The vegetables also add natural sweetness and umami to the hamburger steaks, which boosts their flavor. Adding gelatin to ground meat is a classic trick used in many Western dishes like meatloaf or cabbage rolls, and the added collagen thickens the juices just enough so they don’t all leak out while cooking. Using 100% lean ground beef gives the hamburger steaks a satisfying beefy flavor. By lightly mixing the ingredients, the meaty texture of the beef is preserved. Hamburg steak is traditionally served with a demi-glace sauce, but making a proper demi-glace is a 2-day undertaking. My easy sauce recipe uses the gelatin and beef juices left in the pan along with 4 pantry staples to create a restaurant quality homemade demi-glace sauce.
Ingredients
Lean Ground Beef - Using lean ground beef ensures that your hamburger steaks are packed with a rich, beefy flavor and avoids the shrinkage that will happen if you use ground beef with a higher fat content. You can also use a blend of beef with ground pork, but I prefer 100% beef in my hamburg steak recipe. Onion - Grating a medium onion brings a sweet and savory foundation of flavor to Japanese hamburg steak, and they’re a classic addition. Cabbage - Together with the onions, shredded cabbage acts as a reservoir of flavorful fluids, making these hamburger patties ridiculously juicy. Cabbage also contains a high concentration of amino acids, which boosts the umami in this recipe. Sake - The sake is used to steam the vegetables, but it’s also loaded with amino acids, adding more depth of flavor to the hamburger mixture. Panko - Panko breadcrumbs, along with milk, form a panade, which helps prevent the protein in the beef from getting tough as it cooks. Mayonnaise - Mayo is an emulsion of oil and eggs along with some seasonings, and it’s a great way to add richness to lean ground beef because it doesn’t leak out of the patties as it cooks. Don’t worry; you won’t taste the mayo in the finished dish. Powdered Gelatin - This is one of the key ingredients for creating that juicy, melt-in-your-mouth texture. The collagen in gelatin helps thicken the juices coming from the beef and vegetables just enough so they don’t leak out of the patties as they cook. Black Pepper - Black pepper and beef go together like bread and butter. I like using freshly cracked black pepper from a mill. Nutmeg - Nutmeg is the other spice I like to use in this because it introduces a warm, aromatic note that complements the savory elements of the beef. Red Wine - To make the flavorful sauce, red wine deglazes the pan and adds a robust, tangy depth to the sauce. You can substitute other beverages like white wine, beer, or sake. The alcohol evaporates as the sauce reduces, so you don’t need to worry about getting anyone drunk. Ketchup - Ketchup brings sweetness and acidity to the tangy sauce, perfectly balancing the savory flavors of Japanese hamburg steak. Oyster Sauce - oyster sauce is a quick way to add rich umami flavor to the hamburger steak sauce that’s reminiscent of demi-glace sauce. Worcestershire Sauce - Worcestershire sauce introduces a complex blend of tangy, savory, and spicy notes that contribute to the depth of flavor of this sweet and savory sauce.
How To Make Hamburg Steak
The first component of this Hamburg Steak recipe is a flavorful mixture of grated vegetables. Place a pan on a scale and use the large holes of a cheese grater to grate the onions and cabbage. I recommend using half a head for the cabbage as it won’t fall apart as easily. Once grated, we’ll mix in some sake and salt, then steam the mixture. This steaming process helps to soften the vegetables while preserving their natural juices. After steaming for 5 minutes, remove the lid and burn off any excess liquid. We want our veggies moist but not watery. Once the vegetables have cooled to room temperature, we’ll add the panko breadcrumbs, milk, mayonnaise, gelatin, black pepper, and nutmeg to create a panade. This is the key to my hamburg steak recipe as it adds juices from the vegetables, richness from the mayo, and tenderness from the panko and milk. We’re not aiming for a homogenous paste here; instead, we want a crumbly texture that will give our hamburger steak a tender bite. Next, incorporate the ground beef into the panade, using chopsticks to gently marble the mixture. We’re not aiming for a homogenous paste here; instead, we want a crumbly texture that will give our hamburger steak a tender bite while preserving the beef’s meaty texture. Divide the mixture into even portions and shape each into smooth, oval patties. Removing any air pockets from the patties is essential, or the hamburg steaks will crack and fall apart when you cook them. You can do this by slapping each patty on your opposite hand until the surface is smooth and free of creases. Preheat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add vegetable oil. If you have a well-seasoned cast iron skillet, that could work; however, the patties are very soft and a little sticky, so I prefer using a non-stick pan to avoid any drama. Place the hamburg patties in the pan, leaving space between each one. Fry the patties until they develop a rich, brown crust on one side for approximately three minutes, then flip and brown the other for another two minutes. With the patties nicely browned, add a third cup of water to the pan and cover it with a lid to create steam. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle steam, cooking the patties for another five to six minutes. This steaming step ensures that the hamburg steaks are cooked through while remaining tender and juicy. Once cooked, transfer the steaks to a plate and set them aside while you prepare the sauce.
Hamburg Steak Sauce
To make the sauce, deglaze the pan with red wine, reducing it until the alcohol has cooked off and the flavor has concentrated. Then, stir in ketchup, oyster sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, continuing to cook until the sauce becomes thick and glossy. Finally, pour the flavorful sauce over your hamburg steaks and serve them hot.
What to Serve with Japanese Hamburg Steak
Although hamburg steak is considered yōshoku (Western Food) in Japan, it’s usually served with a bowl of white rice. Japanese short-grain rice is perfect for absorbing the luscious sauce, and it’s the perfect way to balance out the savory hamburger steak. For veggies, try a simple side salad with a tangy wafu (Japanese-style) dressing or some lightly steamed broccoli tossed with sesame oil and a sprinkle of furikake. Japanese potato salad is another typical side dish, and if you’re feeling ambitious, Spaghetti Napolitan would be the last component of a traditional hambagu teishoku set.
📖 Recipe
