Unpopular Opinion

So… you are making sausage.

My secret to enhancing beef flavor without changing it is to use Tsuru Bishio, Worcestershire, salt, and MSG. As soon as you add something like egg, garlic, or anything else into the ground meat, you’ve made sausage and it tastes like sausage. It’s not a burger any more.

Here are my tricks, which I use on steak as well as burgers:

Add a small amount of Tsuru Bishio (a thick, dark, deeply umami, barrel aged soy sauce) and Worcestershire to the ground meat (or rub on the surface of the steak). Mix well.

Form the meat into balls and preheat your pan/griddle. Dust the balls with salt and msg.

Slice an onion paper-thin. Using a mandolin is strongly recommended. Toss with a tiny bit of high-heat oil and salt.

Throw all the onions on the griddle and then throw the meatballs on top. Cover and let look for a minute or two (depending on your heat).

Make sure your griddle is draining. Pour out grease if needed.

Move the onions around a bit and then roll the meatballs over and smash them hard into the onions. Cover and cook another minute or two, then flip one more time. Now is the time to add cheese if you want.

The goal here is to try and elevate the umami without changing the flavor of the beef. You want it to taste like the “beefiest” thing you’ve ever eaten. The Tsuru Bishio and Worcestershire help give the beef an “aged” flavor while the salt and msg draw out more of the beefs natural “beefiness”. Onion fried in beef fat (rendered from the patties themselves) adds a very deep, caramelized umami flavor (like french onion soup) that complements and elevates the beef without overpowering or conflicting with it. It absorbs and captures the beef-fat flavor that otherwise would have been wasted. It also helps keep the mouthfeel “juicy”.