Wafu Hambagu is a scrumptious Japanese-style hamburger eaten without a bun. The meat patty is prepared until moist and flavorful, and garnished with daikon, shiso leaves, and enjoyed with a ponzu based sauce.
If you are not familiar with the Japanese term “Hambagu” (ハンバーグ), it basically a thick ground meat patty that’s cooked in a frying pan, instead of grilled, and always served with some kind of sauce and without a bun.
I’ve posted the typical Hambagu recipe with thick Worcestershire-base sauce on Just One Cookbook before, and today I want to introduce you to this delicious Wafu Hambagu (和風ハンバーグ) version with a Japanese seasoning sauce.
Watch How To Make Wafu Hambagu
Juicy and flavorful meat patties garnished with daikon and shiso leaves. Enjoy this Japanese Hambagu with a ponzu based sauce.
What is Wafu Hambagu?
Wafu Hambagu is Hambagu served with grated daikon and/or shiso leaves on top, along with a thin sauce which comes in a few variations. The thin sauce base can be made with dashi + soy sauce, Mentsuyu, or ponzu.
Today I used ponzu because the fragrance and citrus flavor from ponzu works really well with refreshing daikon, and together they refresh your palate while you’re enjoying the juicy meat. I love this sauce quite a bit and besides hambagu, this sauce can be used for steak and other meaty dishes.
Secret to Great Tasting Wafu Hambagu
The key for Japanese hamburger steak is always to use the combination of both ground beef and pork. This is the secret for juicy and flavorful meat patties.
If you use only ground beef, you will definitely taste the difference. Beef only patties are drier and has less flavor compared to ones that also includes ground pork.
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Wafu Hambagu (Japanese Hamburger Steak)
Video
Ingredients
- ½ onion
- 1 ½ Tbsp neutral oil (for cooking onion)
- ¼ cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 2 Tbsp milk
- ½ lb ground beef (226 g)
- ½ lb ground pork (226 g)
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell)
- 1 clove garlic (crushed or minced)
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
For Cooking Patties
- 1 ½ Tbsp neutral oil
Toppings
- 3 inch daikon radish (use the top green part of daikon where it’s sweet and less bitter)
- 2 shiso leaves (perilla/ooba) (or scallion/green onion for garnish)
Sauce
- ½ cup ponzu (for homemade ponzu recipe, click here)
- 1 tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp yuzu kosho (Japanese citrus chili paste) (if you like it spicy)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Mince the onion.
- Heat 1 ½ Tbsp oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion until golden brown. Transfer to a large bowl and let it cool.
- Mix panko and milk together.
- When the onion cools down, add all the ingredients into the large bowl.
- Mix all the ingredients together and knead the mixture until sticky (the mixture will become paler in color).
- Divide the mixture into 4 portions. Put a little bit of oil on your hand to avoid the meat sticking to the hands.
- Toss each portion of the mixture between your hands about 10 times to release the air inside the mixture (this will prevent the patties from breaking while cooking).
- Make oval shape patties. The top shouldn't be flat like typical hamburger patties, it should be more round. Cover the patties with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cooking so that the meat combines together.
- Meanwhile, peel daikon and grate finely. Squeeze the liquid out of daikon.
- Cut off the stem of shiso and roll it up. Cut into julienned pieces. If you use scallion instead, slice it thinly.
- To make the sauce, combine ponzu, yuzu kosho, and sugar and whisk all together until sugar is dissolved.
- Heat 1 ½ Tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium heat and place the patties gently. Indent the center of each patty with fingers because it will rise and expand with heat. Cook the patties for about 3-4 minutes and do not flip until nicely brown.
- Flip the patties and cover to cook on medium low heat for 4-5 minutes, or until the meat inside is cooked through.
- Add the sauce to the pan and increase the heat to medium high. Pour the sauce over the meat with a spoon while cooking for about 2 minutes.
- Move the patties to serving plates. Reduce the sauce a little bit while skimming off the fat (to make clear nice sauce). Pour the sauce into small serving bowl.
- Place the grated daikon on top of the meat patties and garnish with shiso (or scallion). Pour the extra sauce on top when you eat.
Can I make this ahead of time and leave it in the fridge to cook the next day?
Hi, Minami. Thank you so much for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe.
If you shape the Hambagu with clean gloves and then wrap it individually in plastic wrap, it should be fine in the fridge until the next day.
(No more than 24 hours)
They can also be cooked and frozen. It’s an excellent choice for Bento or meal preparation.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/meal-prep-freezer-friendly-bento-dishes/
We hope you found this information useful!
[…] can also grind it into a fine powder and use it as a binder for wafu hambagu, or […]
Thank you for the Chicken and Tofu recipe! This is an excellent healthy option.
Hi Des! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipes and for your kind feedback!
We are glad to hear you enjoyed the Tofu and Chicken Burger 豆腐ハンバーグ version. ☺️
https://www.justonecookbook.com/chicken-tofu-hamburger-steak/
Happy Cooking!
Hello Nami, i really wanna try your regular hambagu steak recipe and also the wafu one. For both recipes, you’ve used different amounts of panko and beef while same amount of milk and egg. Was the patties resulted in the same juiciness & flavorful level despite all the differences? Or those recipes indeed need a different adjustment? Thankss
Hi Luciana! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
It’s just the variations. 🙂
She takes detailed notes while she tests recipes, and each recipe is the result of her finalized work. Sometimes she may use more or fewer ingredients to make similar recipes. Would you please try both and see if you like one over the other one? We hope you find your favorite.
こんにちわ なみ
The wafu is a clear hit. It’s tasty like those you are able to get on restaurant.
The homemade ponzu make it even better.
The reason for making own ponzu you can get the taste as you want and together with some French fries and the daiko/carrot salad makes the dish very good.
Next time we try goma broccoli salad with or a mix of both. Happy cooking😁
Hi Lars! Thanks so much for trying this recipe and thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
This is a favorite recipe in our house. Tonight, I’m making it for the third time. Thank you for sharing, Nami!
Hi Katherine!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are so happy to hear this is your favorite recipe.😊