Japanese Hamburg steak is one of the most popular western-style dishes in Japan. It’s like a ground beef patty except a little thicker and made with some Asian ingredients. Another difference is that it’s drizzled with a sweet and salty, ketchup-y sauce on top and it’s made with the left over browned bits after frying the patties. Even though it has a fancy-sounding name, it’s actually really easy to make!

Japanese Hamburg steak with broccoli and carrots served on a wooden table

Even though it’s not exactly a steak, Japanese Hamburg steak is a much more affordable option over steak these days since it’s made of ground beef.

While my fiancé and I were in Japan, we tried Japanese Hamburg steak at the top of Mount Hiei in Northern Kyoto in a cute little café located at the garden museum. It really was a fitting meal for a Claude Monet-inspired garden. Today, I wanted to bring the taste of Japan back home and share with you how you can make Japanese Hamburg steak at home too.

Ingredients

For the Patties:

Ground beef
Panko bread crumbs – regular bread crumbs will work too
Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Egg
Milk
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce

For the Sauce:

Butter
Ketchup
Worcestershire sauce
Dark soy sauce – regular soy sauce will do as well.
Brown sugar or yellow sugar – white granulated sugar will work too
Sake – wine can work as a substitute

How to Make Japanese Hamburg Steak

First, we’ll mix ground beef, panko bread crumbs, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, an egg, milk, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce in a medium-sized bowl.

Ground beef in a glass bowl with ingredients for Japanese Hamburg steak

It is easier to do this with your hands. Wearing gloves will make this process feel less messy.

Mixing ground beef with gloved hands in a glass bowl

Let’s preheat the pan with a little bit of neutral-flavoured oil. In the meantime, we’ll form the hamburger steaks into 2-inch wide patties and then flatten them slightly. Pan-fry the Japanese Hamburg steaks on medium heat covered for about 5-6 min or until browned.

Japanese Hamburg steaks in a skillet covered with a lid

From time to time, check the bottom of the patties to make sure they don’t burn. Then flip them and fry the other side for another 4-6 minutes or until browned, keeping the lid covered.

Japanese Hamburg steaks in a skillet with lid covered

Check that the final temperature of the largest patty is 165 °F with a thermometer.

After the Japanese Hamburg steaks are done cooking, set them aside and discard the excess beef fat, leaving a little bit of beef fat and browned bits behind to make the sauce.

Pouring beef fat from skillet into a bowl

On medium heat, add the sake to the pan and stir to deglaze for 30 seconds – 1 min. This will release all of the browned bits packed with flavour at the bottom of the pan, making our sauce flavourful.

Stirring sake with spatula in skillet to deglaze

Add butter and melt and then the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir until combined.

Ketchup, brown sugar, and soy sauce in melted butter and sake in a skillet

Simmering Japanese Hamburg steak sauce in a skillet

Turn up the heat to medium high and stir until the sauce thickens (about 3-4 min). Set the sauce aside and serve the Japanese Hamburg steaks with a little bit of sauce on top.

Japanese Hamburg steak with sauce on top and broccoli and carrots on the side

Japanese Hamburg steaks are a great option over expensive steak especially in today’s economy with rising food costs. It’s also one of my favourite things to add to a bento box.