Hambagu - Japanese Hamburg Steak
Tender, moist patties of beef, pork and vegetables in a rich sauce of oyster and soy sauces.
Hambagu - Japanese Hamburg Steak
Serves 6
With summer winding down I start thinking of foods that are hearty and comforting but still light. Enter hambagu, it has all of the rich hearty flavors but is served with raw cabbage helping to keep things light. I made hambagu for the first time in 2018. I couldn’t tell you what made me make it, but I’m happy I did. Hambagu is the Japanese version of a hamburg steak in America its equivalent has two forms, a Salsibury steak usually made with a mushroom gravy and eaten with mashed potatoes and a hamburger eaten with bread. These patties are packed full of vegetables, tender and flavorful. I serve it with Korean potato salad (recipe here) thinly sliced cabbage and rice.
“Recipe Tips:
1. The meat mixture is very damp, that is in part what results in such a tender patty. Be sure to use very damp hands when shaping the patties so the mixture does not stick.”
Ingredients
Dashima Broth
400ml (2 c) water
8g (2 medium) dried shiitake
4g (2 in piece) dashima
Saute
200g (about 1 c) onion, fine dice
140g (about 1 c) carrot, fine dice
7g (1.5 t) ginger, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Shiitakes from broth squeezed and minced
0.25 t kosher salt
Soak
30ml (2 T) dashima broth
21g (3 T) panko
Patties
300g (a little less than 0.75 lb) ground beef
200g (a little less than 0.50 lb) ground pork
2 T ketchup
2 T dashima broth
1 T oyster sauce
2 t mirin, soju or sake
2 t soy sauce
0.50 t ground black pepper
0.50 t kosher salt
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/8 t ground allspice
1 large egg
Sauce
3 T ketchup
3 T oyster sauce
2 T soy sauce
2 T mirin
1.5 T soju or sake
1 T maesil or 2 t honey or sugar
2.5 t Worcestershire sauce
0.25 t ground black pepper
Recipe Know-how
1. In a small pot place the broth ingredients.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Boil for 1 minute.
Keep covered and let stand off heat for 1 hour or until completely cool.
Prep vegetables for saute while the broth cools.
2. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high.
Add 2 t of vegetable oil.
Saute vegetables and salt for 5 minutes stirring occasionally until very soft.
Remove to a plate and cool completely.
3. In a small bowl stir together the soak ingredients until completely hydrated.
Allow to stand for 10 minutes before using.
4. In a medium mixing bowl add the patty ingredients, cooled vegetables and soak.
Using clean hands, squeeze everything together until well combined.
Once combined, stir the mixture vigorously in one direction for 2 minutes.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Continue on to Step 5 while the mixture sets.
5. In a small bowl, stir together the sauce ingredients mixing until well combined. Set aside.
6. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat.
Add 2 t of vegetable oil.
Using damp hands, divide the mixture into 6 equal portions.
Working in batches, with damp hands, shape the portions into oval patties and place in the pan.
The mixture is very soft and sticky so damp hands are important to shaping the patties without making too much of a mess.
Additionally, I like to shape the patties and add them to the pan rather than pre-shaping them because the mixture is so soft, when lifting the patties you have to reshape them anyway.
Cook for 5 minutes on each side and remove from pan to a plate.
The patties will not be fully cooked at this point.
Deglaze the pan with the remaining broth scraping up the fond from the pan.
Add the patties back to the pan.
Cover and simmer for 5 minutes on each side.
Remove the patties from the pan to the plate.
Add the sauce to the pan.
Rinse out the sauce bowl with 50 - 100ml (0.25 - 0.50 c) water and add to the pan.
Return the patties to the pan along with any accumulated juices from the plate.
Simmer for 2 – 3 minutes longer uncovered until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Baste the sauce over the patties once or twice while simmering.
Taste the sauce and adjust as desired.
7. Serve with shaved cabbage, Koreran potato salad (recipe here) and rice.
