Hamburger Steak Set from Erased

Helllloooooo…..it’s me.

I know, I know, it’s been awhile. A long while. Needless to say, my once a week update schedule is out the window. Can you blame me? I’m studying to be an English teacher and I’m right in the midst of the test teachers have to take to become certified. It’s the edTPA, which is basically a HUGE portfolio assessment where I include clips of my teaching, lesson plans, commentary on everything, student work samples…the list goes on. I just finished my first draft of the whole thing, and I am so excited! And that’s how I got here.

I’ve been sitting on this blog post- I made it awhile ago and just haven’t had time to sit down and actually write the blog post. It’s time to finally share it with you! I am so excited about this one, because it’s taken from my favorite anime of the season, Erased (Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi).  I am loving the plot, the characters, and especially the thrills. At first, I wasn’t too caught up in it, but after watching episodes 2-4 I became hooked faster than the hungriest fish off the coast of Japan (hoho, low blow? It was the only place I could think of off the top of my head with an overfishing problem.).

Anyway, when I saw the hamburger steak Satoru’s mom makes for him in Episode 2, I was up for the challenge. Hamburger steak is basically the Japanese verison of meatloaf, but it’s so juicy and tender. 100% approve.

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The Ingredients

1. 1/2 pound ground beef

2. 1/2 pound ground pork

3. 1/2 onion, chopped finely

4. salt and pepper

5. 1 egg

6. 1/3 cup panko

7. 1/2 tsp nutmeg

8. 1/4 cup red wine

9. oil for frying (Preferably canola oil. Olive oil will do.)

Sauce

1. 3 tbs ketchup

2. 3 tbs red wine

3. 3 tbs Worcestershire sauce (or tonkatsu sauce)

4. 3 tbs water

5. 2 tbs butter

Broccoli side

1. broccoli (whatever quantity suits you)

2. butter

3. Salt and pepper

Potato side

1. Russet potatoes (whatever quantity suits you. About 1 per person.)

2. olive oil

3. salt and pepper

Recipe for Hamburger steak from here. 

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To Make

Begin with your potatoes. Preheat the oven to 450, and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Scrub potatoes, cut them into strips, and lay on the baking sheet. Drizzle them with oil, salt, and pepper, toss to coat, and set aside.

Then, chop your onion finely. Turn on the stove to medium heat, heat about 1 tbs of oil in the pan, and, when ready, toss the chopped onion in. Sprinkle with salt. Let it cook for about 15 minutes, or until the onion is soft and caramelly-brown in color (mine is a tad underdone). Stir frequently to avoid burning, and don’t turn the heat up high, otherwise you might accidentally burn it.

While that’s cooking, throw your meats, egg, panko, nutmeg, a healthy dash of salt and pepper together in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Once the onions are finished, add them into the meat and mix through. Turn meat out onto a plastic cutting board.

Separate meat into fourths. Then, begin forming your patties. You want them to be rounded ovals, and you also want them to be melded together very well. To accomplish this, slap each portion of meat back and forth between your hands, or against the cutting board. Don’t go easy here- this is a good time to get any lingering anger from your day out. You are doing this to beat all extra air out of the patty and to distribute fats around the patty evenly. By the time it’s ready, the patty should be sticky and should be an even pink color. Then, form into a flat oval with smooth sides. Set aside patties in the fridge for about 30 minutes to allow them to settle.

Remember those potatoes?

Throw them in the oven. Take out your broccoli. I bought prepackaged, pre-cut broccoli, but in case you didn’t do that, take the time now to trim your stalks and rinse the broccoli. Place your broccoli in a pan with a little bit of water on the bottom. Place a lid on top, and set aside on a back burner.

Put all the sauce ingredients together and give them a good stir.

Then, once the thirty minutes of rest time have elapsed, flip your potatoes so they cook evenly. Next, take your patties out of the fridge. Set a large pan over medium – high heat with about two tablespoons of oil. Allow the oil to heat up, and then place patties in the pan. With two fingers, quickly dent down the middle so that the patties don’t shrink as much. Allow to cook on one side about 3-4 minutes, or until bottoms are nice and browned. Flip over and allow to cook through on the other side, about 4-5 minutes. Cover with a lid to help the cooking process.

Remember the broccoli on the back burner? Turn the heat up to high and allow to steam, about 5-7 minutes. If you used a pan that was too small, like me, flip broccoli half way through cooking time. It will be done when a fork to the stalk part meets no resistance.

Remove the steaks from the pan, and set aside to rest on a plate. Meanwhile, place the butter in the bottom of the hot pan. Whisk around the butter with the meat bits on the bottom of the pan.

Then, add in the wine, and allow to cook for a few minutes, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Once it has simmered for about a minute, add in the sauce mix and allow to heat through and cook for a minute or two.

Remove potatoes from the oven. They should be crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Drain any extra water from the broccoli, and mix in butter, salt, and pepper. Begin plating! First arrange the broccoli, then the potato slices, and then the hamburger steak. Top with sauce from the pan.

And now it’s done! It is so good, you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for a hearty, filling meal, perhaps something to warm the heart after suddenly reverting to literal childhood, this is the meal for you. Enjoy!

I hope you liked this post! Comment with other ideas of food from anime or manga that I can make. Let me know if you have any questions! Have a great day 🙂

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