Categories: Asian
Ingredients
- Hamburg Steak
- 1 onion , finely chopped
- 11/2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp panko breadcrumbs (note 1)
- 2 tbsp milk
- 250g (0.6lb) beef mince (ground beef, note 2)
- 250g (0.6lb) pork mince (ground pork, note 2)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 11/2 tbsp oil
- Stewing Sauce
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/4 onion , thinly sliced
- 100g (3.5oz) shimeji mushrooms (note 3)
- 250ml (8.5oz) beef stock
- 50ml (1.7oz) each of water and red wine (note 4)
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Directions
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Hamburg Steaks
- Add 1½ tablespoons of butter to a frying pan over medium high heat. Sauté onion for 3 minutes until the edge of the onion pieces start browning slightly.
- Transfer the onions to a large bowl, spread them as thinly as possible and cool them down.
- Mix panko breadcrumbs and milk in a small bowl.
- When the onions are at least at room temperature, add all the Hamburg Steak ingredients except oil to the bowl of onions and mix well until ingredients are evenly mixed and the mixture becomes sticky.
- Flatten the surface of the mixture and draw cross lines to partition into 4 equal quadrants.
- Put a small amount of oil (not in ingredients) on your palms, take ¼ of the mince mixture and make a ball.
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Throw the mince ball from one hand to the other to flatten, like the baseball players do (although the baseball won’t flatten). Do it few times so that the air inside the mince mixture is removed. Then turn the ball into a flat oval shape of about 2.5cm (1") thick.
- Press the centre of the oval gently to make it slightly thinner than the outer part of the oval (the centre bulges up when cooked). Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 to make 4 patties.
- Add oil to a frying pan over medium high heat. Place the 4 mince patties in the frying pan and place a lid on.
- Cook for about 2 minutes until the bottom of the Hamburg steak is browned. Then turn it over using a spatula, place a lid on and cook further 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
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Sauce and Stewing
- Wipe the frying pan to remove black bits but do not completely wipe off as good flavour is stuck to the bottom.
- Melt butter in the frying pan over medium high heat. Add sliced onions and sauté for a couple of minutes until the onions become transparent.
- Add shimeji mushrooms and sauté for further 2 minutes or so until the mushrooms are softened and lightly browned.
- Add the remaining Stewing Sauce ingredients to the frying pan, mix well and bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium high and place the Hamburg steaks back into the frying pan including the juice on the plate.
- Cook for 8 minutes or until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly with a gravy consistency. While cooking, turn the Hamburg steaks over once and then once more at the end. Turn the heat off.
- Transfer the Hamburg steaks to serving plates with a choice of vegetables. Pour the sauce with shimeji mushrooms over the Hamburg steaks. Serve immediately.
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Recipe Notes
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Panko is Japanese breadcrumbs and it is much coarser than standard breadcrumbs. When soaked in milk, the breadcrumbs become soft and easy to blend into the meat mixture. You could also use soft white bread ripped into small pieces.
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Japanese Hamburg steak is usually made of pork mince (ground pork) and beef mince (ground beef) mixed together. But you can use just pork or beef if you want. It is also OK to change the ratio of pork and beef. The more beef you have in the patties, the firmer the cooked Hamburg steaks will be.
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I used shimeji mushrooms to give a Japanese touch to the sauce. But thinly sliced button mushrooms are also great.
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For a non-alcohol version, replace wine with water.