This Week’s Recipe: Hamburg

Inspiration: I got a new cookbook called — Japanese Soul Cooking: Ramen, Tonkatsu, Tempura, And More From The Streets and Kitchens of Tokyo and Beyond.

And let me tell you, all the recipes look delicious!

The first entry I decided to try is a twist on a recipe my family’s been making for four generations — Hamburgers! (As cooking Japanese food, even comfort classics, intimidates me, I thought I’d ease my way in.) Or, in this case, the Hamburg — which swaps the bun and fixing for a heavenly pan sauce made from ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and sake….

Unfortunately, after we returned home from the shops, I discovered I’d forgotten to purchase the requisite bottle of sake….And swapping sake for one of the tipples we did have on hand — peach vodka or whiskey aged in rum barrels — didn’t feel culinarily wise….

So, rather than running back to the store for the umpteenth time or giving up on the dinner plan, I substituted chicken bone broth with notes of shallot, sage, and shitake mushrooms for the sake. Then, to amp up the flavor, I used the Portlandia brand of spicy Worcestershire sauce. (Seriously, I would highly suggest you find a bottle of this stuff, it is by far and away the tastiest Worcestershire I’ve ever used).

It turned out great!

Christie: I think anything served with a silky pan sauce is at least one rung fancier than one without…. So perhaps if Poirot or Mr. Satterthwaite found themselves served a Hamburg with a nice pickled daikon & carrot salad and a dome of white rice with some furikake garnish — they’d tuck into it with relish!

Even Miss Marple I think would enjoy this dish!