The Best Burger Loaded with Umami
Our ugly, but incredibly savory, delicious and popular umami loaded burger recipe (umami hamburger) now has an update. This time, it became the ultimate umami loaded cheeseburger, which is updated in the recipe. This recipe has been in our family since the early 1980’s and recipe originally published in 2009.
Family Umami Burger Recipe
For the longest time, we’ve been making the best darn umami hamburger recipe on the face of this earth (insert personal bias.) We’ve never had a specific name for our homemade umami loaded burger recipe until someone tagged it as the “magic meat”, but not as in “mystery meat” or “I can’t tell if this is chicken or beef.” Rather, it was to describe the magical flavor sensations that everyone experienced when they bit into one of our patties. That “magic meat” term described the juicy, flavorful and savory burger patty that everyone fought over. Sometimes the buns were tossed to the side or forgotten because the meat was just so delicious and satisfying.
Watch the video making these Ultimate Umami Hamburgers:
It wasn’t until recently, with all the discussion on Umami (the rich, savory taste in foods) that our umami hamburger recipe was re-named as the hamburger loaded with umami. Our hungry friends were always stumped to figure out the secret ingredient and could never, ever pinpoint that “magic” flavor that made our patties so unique.
It’s the ultimate burger that is so satisfying and savory, no one can eat just one. Make it a double, please. But this umami rich burger recipe isn’t a new invention, nor is it a trendy recipe to keep up with the popularity of umami rich foods. No burger chain should ever make claim or ownership to this savory burger. Many families have been making this for decades before any trendy burger joint capitalized on the idea. This recipe is a family recipe that started from my Vietnamese-American family back in the early 80’s, in a 2-bedroom apartment, in the middle of Southern California…
our ultimate umami loaded burgers are the highlights of our outdoor gatherings
About Our Umami Hamburgers
Diane –
That Vietnamese family is obviously mine. Growing up in a Vietnamese family of 6 kids who were always hungry and thirsty for more American foods, my parents had to figure out a way to feed their hungry pack of kids. Back then, hamburgers were the “American’s food”, “that sandwich with that big piece of meat in it, with the red and yellow sauces and the sour cucumber slices.” My siblings and I wanted to eat “Ham-buh-guh” all day long and we wanted it NOW.
My parents figured out that it was much more economical to make burgers at home and did exactly that by creating their own recipe for the patties. Of course, being Vietnamese, they marinated the beef in the only way they knew how—splash fish sauce to it. Fish sauce is the golden elixir to us Vietnamese, take it away and you drain the blood out of our cuisine. Fish sauce is the fermented salvation from the food spirits and food fairies. It’s pure umami brings out the savory depth in all foods.
With their batch of ground beef, my parents’ splashed fish sauce as the one and only marinade into the burger recipe. With the addition of a little sugar for balance, garlic for more aromatic love and black pepper for bite, their simple recipe has evolved into what our friends call today as “The Ultimate Umami Burger.”
This recipe isn’t unique by any means, especially in a Vietnamese household. I’m certain there are many Vietnamese-American families who splashed their burger meat with fish sauce!
Todd –
I know what a lot of you non-Asian people are thinking, “Fish sauce? Um, hell no.” But wait, my dear skeptics, and listen to my confessional. For many years when I first fell in love with Diane, I avoided fish sauce. Let’s face it, it stinks like something most of us are not used to. It is, after all, fermented anchovies. Mmmm, tasty! Not. At least so I thought, but man, was I ever wrong.
One fine meal while dining on a grilled shrimp ball, I dipped it into the Vietnamese classic Nuoc Cham (Viet Fish Sauce Dip) and I suddenly saw the umami. There was no weird fishiness, instead the fish sauce’s own flavor virtually disappeared and many of the other flavors within the grilled shrimp ball became heightened. Everything was good before, but after the addition of fish sauce everything was incredible. I was instantly converted.
Ever since I’ve never hesitated to grab the bottle of fish sauce. It was my brother-in-law, a classic mid-west guy, who dubbed the fish sauce laden ground beef as the “Magic Meat.” It was that damn tasty. And now we have another believer in the umami.
Sure everything will be tasty without the umami adding fish sauce. However, it will be even better with the magic sauce.
Credit to Mom and Dad
Oh btw- our forever family burger recipe was not inspired by any copycat burger chains bearing a similar name. This is definitely not an endorsement for anyone’s burger other than this one that Mom and Dad have been making for decades. Our umami hamburger is way more simple, clean, un-fussy, unpretentious and way more delicious because the ultimate umami comes from the fish sauce that we’ve been using for decades.
This recipe was originally published in 2009 and republished in 2015 with updated video.
Our Favorite Fish Sauce Brands:
This has been our house fish sauce for decades. Great stuff! We’ll use it to make our dipping sauces as well as marinades.
100% all-natural first press extra virgin Vietnamese fish sauce. One of the best artisan fish sauce producers.
Another good fish sauce. Clean flavors, good depth. It’s the one Diane’s mom most often uses for cooking.
The Umami Loaded Burger Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. (907 g) Ground Beef
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons (22.5 ml) Fish Sauce (for more daring, savory depth, use 2 tablespoons)
- 2 cloves Garlic , crushed or minced
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) fresh ground Black Pepper , or to taste
- Flaky Salt , optional
- 6 Hamburger buns (or 8-12 slider buns)
- condiments of your choice and cheese makes it extra decadent and special
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine beef, fish sauce, garlic, sugar, and black pepper. Mixed together well. If you have time, fridge the beef for 30 minutes or more. We like to allow the beef to marinade overnight in the fridge for optimum flavor, but most of the time don't plan that far ahead. They still always come out great, even with a shorter marinade time.
- Gently form meat into patties for sliders or burgers. Form them roughly wider than the size of your burger or slider buns. Try not to compress the meat too much or else the burgers will cook more dense and won't be quite as delicious.
- If you like your burgers super-seasoned, sprinkle a bit of flaky salt and additional black pepper on the formed patties before cooking.
- For grilling: pre-heat the grill over medium-high heat (if you have that option) and scrape the grill grates clean before grilling. It will help minimize the sticking. For pan cooking: preheat your skillet over medium-high heat.
- Cook on grill or skillet about 3 minutes per side or until cooked to your liking. (1/2 pound patties on a med./high grill take about 3 min. per side for med. rare burger. Heat temp., thickness, etc. all affect cooking times).
- Assemble your burger with your favorite condiments and treat yourself to the cheeseburger version!
Video
Nutrition Information per Serving
Rule the Game of Grilling
Stop guessing when the meat is cooked. Every grill cooks a little different, so timing will vary, but temperature rules the game.
Just in time for Memorial Day – thank you, kids! <3
Best DARN burger recipe! I added galangal powder and apple sauce (ala NomNomPaleo) instead of sugar. Divine with a pile of sauteed mushrooms and onions on top.
I tried your burger recipe last night and loved it! I added a little black truffle salt.YUM!
This is the only thing I’ve ever done with hamburgers that has people asking if I’m “going to make another round.” Note to those using it for the first time – make extra patties.
Found this recipe at random yesterday morning and tried it for my 4th of July cookout. These were pretty much the best burgers I’ve ever had, and they were a huge hit at the party. Thank you!
Hi Diane,
What happens if I let the meat marinate more than 20 minutes? Maybe over night even!
Thanks.
Hi Nima,
An overnight marinade may just leave you with an even more delicious burger. The 20 minutes is just a quick recommendation since most tend not to plan that far ahead, but you can certainly marinate it longer. Enjoy!
I am in process of opening a burger place quite differentiated from your average fast foods or
the high-end costly burger places.
A healthy tasty burger at a reasonable price!
Having said that, I plan to buy the pre-formed 4 oz patties about 3′ inches round.
So they will be thicker.
I however will not be able to marinate these patties as you have suggested.
Is there a way to use your recipe with pre-made patties? i.e. brushing them on each side while they are grilling, injecting the liquid inside them while they re grilling, or……?
Would really appreciate your feedback.
David
Hi David, the recipe we have is for fresh beef, but I’m sure there’s a way to still apply the same flavor to pre-formed patties. If I were to do this, I’d probably let the patties thaw out (if they were pre-frozen). Then brush a very light layer of fish sauce on it and allow it to marinade for about 20 minutes. Then right before grilling or cooking the patties, I would brush the patties with light layer of oil so that the fish sauce doesn’t burn too quickly. If you try this, let me know how it works!
thank you,
-diane
Thank you Diane,
Just to be clear, when you say brush a very light layer of fish sauce” do you mean just fish sauce or the recipe you have have here which has other ingredients as well?
And I am assuming by light layer of foil you mean perhaps a brush stoke of oil on each side! Yes?
Many thanks,
David
David, I think this could work. You can combine the fish sauce, sugar, the fresh garlic, and whole peppercorns into a blender and blend them as a sauce to brush onto your burger patties.
I have a quick question. I looked up online the umami burger recipe. So which one is really Umami Burger Recipe?
Joyce- there’s really no official “umami burger recipe”. We use that word to describe the umami-depth of flavor in our burger because of the added fish sauce. Other recipes will add Worcestershire, soy sauce or mustard to get that umami flavor too. So not sure what you mean by “really umami burger recipe”. There is a chain of burger restaurants called “Umami Burger” here in Southern California. If you’re looking for their official recipe, then we’re not sure if they publish their own recipe or not.
Hello, Thanks for your reply. I heard from my friends about Umami Burger. At first I thought that it is a name of a type of burger. I think mistakenly, umami just means depth of flavors and it is not a name of type of burger. Am I right?
Hi Joyce- Yes, well at least that’s how we understand it to be.
Umami is the term used to describe the “savory, deep taste” in food. Google search shows some great links on how people describe Umami.
And not sure if anyone has ever made claim to being an official “umami burger recipe”. We know of many people to have their version of a very umami-burger, meaning a really flavorful, savory burger patty. It’s really fascinating to see how people intensify the umami flavor with different ingredients. Have fun!!
you guys are too inspirational. as a vege eater i study umami because i love savory, but now and again i will indulge a burger. i think deglazing with a diluted fish sauce and some fermented soy might also have merit. Your article is a wonderful read.
There is a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles called Umami Burger
I just read this post and this sounds awesome. I love fish sauce and try to find interesting ways to incorporate it into my meals! Thanks for the inspiration.
what if ur allergic to fish. what else can be used.
Soy sauce would probably be the next best alternative. I would start with a little less, maybe 1 tablespoon per 2 lbs of beef. It will give you that hit of savory as well as salting the meat. See if you like the taste, then try adding more soy in the next batch to find your personal preference.
Just made turkey burgers with your recipe. Best ever! I LOVE fish sauce (I could practically drink it), and use it in Asian dishes, on roasted veggies, in Caesar salad dressing, and more. I use a Thai brand called Golden Boy. For the folks that commented on using fish sauce in Italian dishes (spaghetti with meat sauce), I would suggest using anchovies to deepen the umami flavor. Canned ones are fine, just smash a couple of them on a cutting board with a chef’s knife and mince them up fine. Add them when you’re sauteing the onions and garlic and be amazed at the depth of flavor…delicious! Thanks for the recipe!!!!
And don’t forget this ONE simple ingredient when making Red Sauce with meat. Use a Cast Iron Skillet, it also adds to the depth of flavor in Spagetti Sauces. I kid you not.
I love fish sauce, but the Vietmanese store I go to has at least 20 brands. How do I know what is good? The bottles are big. Do you have a recommendation? (I guess I could ask them, too!)
try to get the one made only of anchovies, salt, and water. The lesser ingredients added, the better.
Diane and Todd, just wanted to let you know that we love these burgers!! They are definitely the best burgers we’ve ever had. I’ve probably made them 5 times in the past year. May not sound impressive, but I tend to make even our favorite recipes only once every few years because I love trying out new ones. I posted my slightly tweaked version of your recipe on my blog, hope you don’t mind. Here is the link if you would like to see: http://cheesewithnoodles.blogspot.com/2012/05/best-hamburgers-ever-aka-umami.html
Burgers were great, but I have to agree with Greg, grilling the burgers creates the most insane volatile fumes and the smoke is encompassing. We grill on our balcony and it was a bit intense for my boyfriend manning the grill. I recommend this recipe for those that have a back yard and can grill in the open air.
Excellent combination. Substituted the ground black pepper with smoked pepper for some additional subtle flavor notes. Heating of fish sauce causes some of the more volatile amines (the source of the “fishiness” to vent. The glutamines that remain are what causes the “savory” flavor. Had a bunch of the batch of ground beef from the original recipe and added some fresh ginger and soy sauce to make “Asian” meatballs.
Made these for my family — got major rave reviews from everyone. Thankfully, my family are adventurous eaters and were intrigued by the fish sauce addition when I told them about it…. It frustrates me when readers will say such things as “you had me, until fish sauce” — have they even tried it? Anyway. This is an insanely smart idea and I will never make burgers without fish sauce! I did half pork, half beef chuck and it was the best burger to ever come from my grill. Thanks!
That’s awesome. Love that you’ve raised adventurous eaters too!
We tend to friend those who say “You had me at fish sauce” rather than “until” but for some it is just a bit scary. The best is when they give it a try anyway and end up loving it. Thanks again for sharing.
T & D