How To Make Japanese Hamburger Steak (Hambāgu) At Home

“Hamburger Steak” is one of the main Western-style dishes that is popular among Japanese children and adults. In Japan, hamburger steak is distinguished from the hamburger eaten between two buns by being called “Hambāgu”.

The main ingredient of hambāgu is ground meat. Particularly a mixture of ground beef and pork. You might think that hambāgu is similar to meatloaf, but actually it tastes more similar to beef steak, so you can enjoy a meaty and juicy texture when you eat it.

Usually, we use ground meat called “Aibiki-Niku” which is made of ground beef and ground pork to make hambāgu. You can use only ground beef or pork instead of using Aibiki-Niku, but Aibiki-Niku is thought to be the most well-balanced in terms of texture and Umami flavor, making it the best choice to make Japanese hambāgu.

In Japan, you can find hambāgu everywhere like in family restaurants, Western-style restaurants, Set-meal restaurants, and even served as a meal at school. There are also some specialty shops serving indulgent hambāgu served with cheese or demi-glaze sauce. Now you understand how much Japanese people like hambāgu!

Although hambāgu is a popular dish to enjoy at restaurants, it is also quite easy to make at home. As the ingredients are inexpensive and easy to get at supermarkets, hambāgu is often served in the weeknight meal rotation.

Since there are many types of hambāgu sauce, you can enjoy hambāgu with your favorite one. The most basic type of sauce is a demi-glaze sauce made of beef meat, bones, and vegetables, and it gives hambāgu a rich flavor. It takes so much time to make demi-glaze sauce if you follow the steps like authentic restaurants do. Instead, we will introduce an easy-to-make demi-glaze sauce that tastes close enough to the real one in this recipe.

There are 3 tips we would like to share with you for making the most delicious hambāgu:

• Prepare lightly browned stir-fried onions. This gives the hambāgu a unique sweetness and complex umami flavor.
• Mix the ingredients for hambāgu with your hand as opposed to using a spoon or spatula. This will give the hambāgu a better texture.
• And the last tip is to toss each hambāgu patty from your right hand to your left hand in a straight way to release the air from the patty. This will help the hambāgu to keep its shape while cooking. 

If you can follow and master these three steps, we guarantee that your hambāgu will turn out absolutely delicious! We hope you’ll enjoy making our recipe. Let us know in the comments below how it turns out.