Rice Burger

The first time I had this rice burger was at a small cafe/bakery in Tokyo, Japan during the summer holiday. I remembered that both my kids enjoyed it, so we went back for more the next day. The elderly lady at the cafe was kind enough to share the recipe, so I tried, tested, and finally got the result I wanted. This is a perfect umami rice burger! Since the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII is around the corner, why not to try make this Japanese style burger for a change from the traditional burger?






Rice Burger

Ingredients

1 lb Ground Beef
4 Tbsp Finely Chopped White Onion
1 Tbsp Ginger Juice
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Sake
4 Tbsp Panko
¼ tsp Sea Salt
Black Pepper
½ Cup Micro Arugula or any small spicy greens

Rice
2 ¼ Cups of Japanese Medium Grain Rice cooked with 2 ½ Cups of Water
4 Scallions, finely chopped

Sauce
1 Tbsp Sugar
3 Tbsp Sake
2 Tbsp Mirin
4 Tbsp Soy Sauce

Method

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, onion, ginger juice, soy sauce, sake, panko, sea salt, and black pepper. Mix all the ingredients until well combined and marinate for about 30 minutes. Then, gather about ¼ of the meat and shape the patty into 2-½ inch round. You’ll have 9 patties for this recipe.

For the rice: Mix cooked (hot) rice with scallions, and let it cool slightly and shape into 2-½ inch round patty.

Sauce: Combine all the ingredients and mix until the sugar dissolved.

When ready to serve: Place rice patties into a lightly oil non-stick pan over medium heat until brown in color. Turn over, brush with sauce, and continue to grill until toasty and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.

Place the meat patties into a lightly oil grill pan, over medium-high heat. Grill the meat until brown, turn over, and brush generously with the sauce. When all sides are brown, remove and assemble the burger. Place a piece of rice, meat, and top with micro Arugula and another piece of rice. Serve warm.

Makes 9 mini Rice Burgers