Hambagu
Juicy Japanese beef-and-pork patty in a glossy sauce.
Ingredients
- 300 g Ground beef
- 200 g Ground pork
- 1 Onion
- 40 g Panko
- 1 Egg
- 3 tbsp Okonomiyaki sauce
- 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 1 tbsp Neutral oil
- ½ tsp Salt
Method
- Finely chop the onion, then sweat it in a little of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat until soft, sweet, and translucent. Tip onto a plate and let it cool.
- In a bowl, combine the cooled onion with the ground beef, ground pork, panko, egg, and salt. Mix and knead until tacky, then form into oval patties and press a dimple into the centre of each.
- Heat the remaining oil in the pan over medium-high heat and sear the patties until deeply browned on both sides.
- Lower the heat, cover the pan, and let the patties cook through gently until the juices run clear when pierced.
- Lift the patties out and keep warm. Add the okonomiyaki sauce and soy to the pan drippings and let it bubble into a glossy sauce, scraping up the browned bits.
- Plate the patties, spoon the warm sauce over them, and serve with rice.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Hambagu
Hambagu is the Japanese hamburger steak, a yoshoku dish that took the Western patty and remade it into something juicier and more refined, served on a plate with sauce rather than in a bun. Built from a blend of ground beef and pork bound with panko and egg, it sits somewhere between a burger and a meatloaf, tender and springy rather than dense. Sweating the chopped onion until soft and sweet before it goes into the mix, then cooling it, is the step that keeps the patty juicy and deepens its flavor.
The patties are shaped into ovals with a dimple pressed into the center so they cook evenly, seared until deeply browned, then covered and finished gently so the inside stays moist. They're glazed in a glossy sauce built on okonomiyaki sauce and soy, which coats the meat in a sweet, tangy, umami-rich lacquer. Hambagu is homey comfort food in Japan, typically plated with rice and vegetables as a satisfying main. Kneading the mix until tacky is what gives the patty its characteristic bounce, and this version comes together in about half an hour.
Hambagu: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Hambagu?
A serving has about 395 calories — 26.5g protein, 14.6g carbs, 25.2g fat, 1g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 26.5g of protein, roughly 27% of its calories.
Is Hambagu gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Panko, Okonomiyaki sauce, Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu). You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for those ingredients to make it gluten-free.
How long does Hambagu take to make?
About 30 minutes start to finish, but only around 23 of those are hands-on — the rest is cooking time. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
How many servings does Hambagu make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.