My Mom's Hamburger Recipe

There are some dishes from my childhood that I have never forgotten because they evoke such warm memories. They're comfort food, the type you'd like to eat on a rainy day, or when you're tired, or very hungry, or you simply want simple food that satisfies.

One of these dishes is my Mom's hamburger. The patties are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, flavourful and above all, moist. The ingredients are very simple and the magic ingredient, I believe, is that dollop of mayonnaise. When I was a child, we used to eat this with a sauce of native toyo (soy sauce) and calamansi (a small, native Philippine lime).

Now I serve it to my kids at breakfast, lunch or dinner, sans the toyo and calamansi. My children also take it to school for lunch.

I've dolled up the recipe a bit by making a mushroom cream sauce to drizzle on top or serve on the side. But most of the time, we just eat it "naked," and even without this fancy Western sauce, it tastes soooo GOOD!

MY MOM'S HAMBURGER RECIPE

Hamburger:
500 grams minced beef
1 head of onion, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 beef buillion
Dash of pepper
2 eggs

Mushroom Cream Sauce:

1 cup mushrooms (I usually use white button or Swiss brown mushrooms), sliced
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Dash of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter

Procedure:

For the Burgers:
1. Break/mash the beef bouillon with a fork, and mix with the pepper, mayonnaise and eggs. Mix/beat with a wire whisk. Make sure it's incorporated well. Set aside.

2. In a big bowl, put the minced beef and mix with the onion and garlic.  Add the egg mixture and mix very well. Use your (clean) hands, if you want to!

3. Form into balls (around 2" in diameter), flatten and panfry them in a pan with very hot oil, until golden brown. Turn to cook the other side.  For a healthier option, you can also bake them on a baking pan lined with baking paper (350F). Serve hot, naked (alone, without sauce), or with the Mushroom Cream Sauce for a fancier dish. (But like I said, we often eat these naked. For breakfast, lunch and dinner!)


For the Mushroom Cream Sauce:
1. Heat some a splash of oil in a pan, and sauté the sliced mushrooms. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, heat the butter. Add the flour and mix with a wire whisk vigorously until it forms a rue.  Add the milk and with a whisk, continue mixing vigorously until the sauce thickens. Add the mushrooms, nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Serve hot and drizzle on the burgers or serve on the side.