Can we talk about the teriyaki burger for a minute?
It’s no secret that teriyaki beef on a skewer is a fine, fine creation, and a staple of the Buddhist Church carnivals I went to growing up. So, if you’re thinking, well you must have eaten a teriyaki burger or two, you wouldn’t be wrong. But the ones I grew up with were NOT made with ground beef and slathered in bottled teriyaki sauce. There’s a simpler, faster way to make a delicious teriyaki burger, no grilling required.
The teriyaki (or just teri) burgers I grew up with were just grilled pieces of teriyaki marinated beef on a hamburger bun. No condiments, no slaw, nothing fancy. You could add lettuce, tomato, maybe red onion, if you wanted.
So we’re gonna take thinly sliced beef, cut for sukiyaki, and turn it into a teriyaki burger. If you don’t have an Asian market nearby, the standard shaved beef available at the supermarket will work, too. The sukiyaki beef is gonna be a little nicer, a little more expensive, but either one is fine.
We’re just gonna quickly cook it in soy sauce, sugar, water and garlic, with a hit of gochugaru, Korean red pepper flakes. Gochugaru packs a more mild punch than red pepper flakes, so don’t go subbing a tablespoon of the usual peperoncino-type red pepper flakes you keep around in this recipe. Pile the meat on a toasted bun dipped in the sauce, and it’s somewhere between a teri burger and a beef dip.
Slaw isn’t standard for a burger of course, but it fits the bill. The slaw for this recipe is adapted from Hsiao-Ching Chou’s CHINESE SOUL FOOD, and it’s actually what’s going to take more time. You can also just grab a container of slaw (no mayo, please) when you swing by the market. Or, throw on some kimchi for a funkier kick. That’d be my choice.
This is just one way to use this recipe. You could also marinate the meat for an hour or two and then stirfry it and get some char on it. Serve it over rice noodles and a little salad. Or just eat it with steamed rice.
Teriyaki Burgers with Cabbage and Kohlrabi Slaw
Ingredients
- 1/2 c. soy sauce
- 1/3 c. granulated sugar
- 1 T. gochugaru (coarse ground Korean red pepper flakes)
- 14 oz. thinly sliced beef for sukiyaki or thinly shaved beef steak
- 1 c. water
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled and smashed
- 4 hamburger buns
- Cabbage and Kohlrabi Slaw
- 2 c. thinly sliced nappa cabbage (about 1/2 a medium cabbage)
- 1 small kohlrabi, sliced into 2-inch matchsticks
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced into 2-inch matchsticks
- 1 t. kosher salt
- 2 T. plus 1 1/2 t. rice vinegar
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 1 t. granulated sugar
- 1 t. chili oil or 1/2 t. red pepper flakes
Instructions
Put a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the water, soy sauce and garlic, and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add the beef. Bring to a simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the beef from the pan and set aside. Turn up the heat up high and cook the sauce until thickened and reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir occasionally. Stir 2-3 T. of the sauce into the cooked beef.
To make the slaw, combine the cabbage, carrot and kohlrabi in a medium bowl. Toss with salt and let sit in the fridge for 45 minutes to an hour. To make the dressing, whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and oil (or pepper flakes) until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the cabbage mixture and mix well.
To serve, toast the buns and dip lightly into the sauce. Pile about 1/2 c. of beef onto each bun, top with 1/4 c. slaw and the top bun.
