When I was growing up and through a lot of my youth, hamburgers meant mixing eggs, bread crumbs, and a bunch of other stuff with hamburger and forming patties. We lied to ourselves we were doing it to increase the texture of flavour. However, as soon as I started cooking the beef by itself (ok, I will sprinkle on seasonings) I realized we were only doing it to stretch the beef. Fair enough. We weren’t rich. Now, I want a beefy burger.
However, She Who Must Be Obeyed said she wanted more flavour in the meat. I always do what I’m told, the cheque is in the mail, etc.
In thinking what to add, I remembered I add soy sauce to gravy to give it a meatier taste. Would the same work with burgers? This is my attempt to find out.
The recipe is at the end of this post.
I started by mixing 50 ml (1/4 cup of soy sauce) and 8 ml (1 1/2 teaspoon ) of Cajun spice mix. You could use any spice blend you like.
Then I mixed in 1/2 kilogram (1 pound) of ground beef mixing it just until the liquid was absorbed. I formed 4 patties and indented the centres to make prevent shrinkage.
I grilled them on a preheated grill set on high for about 8 minutes, turning once. I checked the internal temperature to make sure it was over 160 F and took them off.
I served them with mustard, ketchup, home made relish, a cheese slice and a pickle. She Who Must Be Obeyed had made a great coleslaw.
The Verdict
This was a total success. The soy sauce adds a deepness of flavour that makes the beef, well, beefier tasting. You don’t notice any soy sauce, it just tastes better. The missus said these were the best burgers ever,
The Old Fat Guy
Ingredients
- 50 ml (1/4 cup) soy sauce
- 8 ml (1 1/2 teaspoon) Cajun spice mix (can use any spice blend you like).
- 1/2 kilogram (1 pound) ground beef
- 4 buns
- 4 cheese slices
- Your favourite burger toppings
Instructions
- Mix the soy sauce and seasonings in a large bowl.
- Add beef and mix just until the liquid is absorbed.
- Form into four patties and indent the centres to prevent shrinking.
- Grill for about 8 minutes over high heat, turning once.
- Make sure internal temperature is over 160 F.
- Serve with buns, cheese and toppings.
16 Responses
Thanks for the tip. I always make my own burgers, it’s the only way to know what’s in them (and they taste better).
I normally use lamb as my family think they taste better. However, I might try adding some soy sauce to beef to see how that goes down – I would never have thought of that.
Thanks, Hamish. I agree on making your own burgers. The store bought ones are a strange texture.
Lamb sis a great idea for burgers. I will have to give it a try.
The Old Fat Guy
OK – I tried this with some lamb burgers. They were pretty good. You couldn’t identify the soy sauce really, but they were just a little different, and with a slightly different texture to normal.
Teenage sons scoffed the lot!
I’ll try it with some beef burgers soon. Thanks again for the tip.
So nice of you to let me know, Hamish!
In my experience teenage boys frequently clean up at the dinner table.
Sure sounds like a great idea, I’ll give it a try to see all like it. We sometimes add a package of French onion soup to meat to give it more flavor. Thanks for another great one.
Sam
Thanks, Sam! You have taken me back. My mother used to put an egg, bread crumbs and Lipton Soup mix in our burgers.
The Old Fat Guy
The burger patties seem so easy to make yet oozing with flavors. I also want to add a dash of soy sauce to my burger to intensify the flavors. The photo looks so mouthwatering! 🙂
Thank you for the kind words!
Darn! Now I want a burger …
You better make one then!
Just had to stop by and say that I’m married to a Canadian (from Calgary)….our oldest (now 18) was born in British Columbia (Victoria). But thanks for putting non-metric measurements in your recipes for the rest of us! 🙂 I’ll definitely try adding soy sauce next time we make burgers.
Thanks for the kind words, Danelle.
You know that if you live in Canada, you better be well versed in metric and Imperial! However, all my really old recipes are not in metric.
The Old Fat Guy
I usually just like to add some salt and pepper to my burgers, but these sound really good with the soy sauce and cajun seasonings. I will definitely have to try them. Thank you for the tip.
Thanks, Mike. If you are going to use the soy sauce, cut back a bit on the salt you normally use.
I tried your idea with soy sauce although I had to put my own spin on it. Check it out and let my know what you think. I thought it was delicious. Thank you for the idea. http://foodourway.com/asian-hamburger-recipe
I love it when someone does something totally different with one idea. Those are great looking burgers!
The Old Fat Guy