A Japanese American’s Favorite Teriyaki Burger Recipe
Make the best homemade teriyaki burger of your life using this easy recipe based off teri burgers from both Hawaii and Japan. You’re getting the best of both worlds! Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links.
WAIT! DON’T SCROLL YET! You may think you don’t need any food blogger’s typical long winded context for a teriyaki burger recipe, but there’s really more to my recipe than meets the eye. Yes, it’s still very easy. Yes, you CAN make it without reading any of the information below. BUT I developed this recipe in a very specific way to include my background as a Japanese American, memories of eating teri burgers at summer festivals, and also the evolving teriyaki cuisine in Japan. The history of teriyaki is both muddled and fascinating, so if you really care about learning about the culture as well as satisfying your taste buds, it’s worth at least a skim. Okay, now you can jump to recipe.
What is a Teri Burger?
Teri burgers are what my local Hawaii friends call teriyaki burgers (I don’t always hear my California Japanese American friends say “teri burger” so I’m not sure if it’s exclusively a Hawaii thing or not). Obviously teriyaki burgers are pretty popular nationwide, but they kind of have a nostalgic place in Japanese American cuisine as an authentic mashup of culture. You can find teri burgers at Obon festivals in America and just generally at the backyard BBQs and cookouts of Japanese American families.
Is Teriyaki Japanese? Are Teriyaki Burgers Hawaiian?
Teriyaki is one of those foods that people often associate with Japan but is not actually considered “authentic” Japanese food – at least not historically. In Japan, teriyaki refers to a cooking method, where a grilled food (in the past it was usually not even chicken or beef – more likely fish) is brushed with a sweet soy sauce glaze.
In America, teriyaki was made a thing by Japanese immigrants, with some claiming that my current hometown, Seattle, was the birthplace of modern American teriyaki. Here, teriyaki refers more to the sweet, glossy, soy sauce based sauce that tops chicken or beef.
Somehow, maybe because teriyaki burgers are so popular in Hawaii due to their large population of Japanese immigrants, these burgers also became associate with Hawaii. Like the Red Robin Banzai burger, you may see them with huge slices of pineapple. When you see that, you can pretty much be assured that the restaurant is not really familiar with local Hawaii culture, as pineapple doesn’t actually appear in ethnic Hawaiian food. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not delicious! You do what you like!
Teriyaki Burgers in Japan
Because of the popularity of teriyaki in America, I feel like things have come full circle with Japan now introducing more teriyaki themed foods, particularly in fast food joints. On my most recent trip to Tokyo I had a teriyaki chicken pizza that was AMAZING. I also had a teriyaki burger from one of the most famous and popular burger chains in Japan: Mos Burger!
The Mos Burger website says their teriyaki sauce uses both miso paste and ginger, which are two ingredients that I don’t normally add to my homemade teriyaki recipes. But my daughter really liked the Mos Burger version, so I tried to recreate that here.
My husband said he liked the Mos Burger teriyaki flavor as well, but he wasn’t a huge fan of the actual hamburger meat texture. He said it was too soft. I have found that in Japan, hamburger patties almost always have egg and panko mixed in (and sometimes even tofu!) which results in a softer, almost fluffier texture of meat. American burgers, like the popular smash burger versions from places like Shake Shack, seem to use just beef and salt. To satisfy everyone in my family, I did Japanese style teriyaki sauce with American style beef patties.
More Hamburger Toppings and Ingredient Notes
Since the Mos Burger teriyaki burger used only lettuce, that’s what I did for my burger as well, but obviously you can adjust to your tastes. Feel free to add tomato, cheese, onions, maybe even kewpie mayonnaise for some extra saucy texture. I won’t judge if you want a pineapple slice as well.
For the hamburger buns, I personally just love King’s Hawaiian buns. They’re big and fluffy and toast up super well. Brioche buns would work well too.
For the teriyaki sauce, because I know I’ll get asked, you can do some ingredient substitutions. If you don’t have mirin, you can use sake instead, although mirin is sweeter so you may want to add more sugar. I don’t recommend omitting the alcohol altogether as it will be way too salty. I also don’t recommend subbing red miso for white, as again, it may be too strong. You can definitely omit the fresh ginger if you don’t want any zing or substitute for garlic instead. If you really don’t want to make your own teriyaki sauce, I highly recommend using Bachan’s Original Japanese BBQ sauce! They’re sold at Costco too!
I recommend putting some of the teriyaki sauce directly into the ground beef, but if you forget, you can always just season with salt and pepper. In the end, the patties get totally dunked in the sauce so there’s really no lack of flavor.
More Japanese American Recipes
Looking for more Japanese American comfort food? Check these out:
The Best Teriyaki Burger (a Japan x Hawaii Recipe)
Ingredients
Teriyaki Sauce
- 6 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
- 6 tbsp mirin
- 5 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp white miso
- 1 tsp grated ginger (from about half an inch piece of ginger)
Burgers
- 1 lb ground beef
- 4 burger buns
- lettuce
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium high heat, combine all ingredients for teriyaki sauce except for the miso (soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, and ground ginger).
- Bring mixture to a simmer and let the alcohol from the mirin cook off, about two to three minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Place miso in a small bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of the cooked teriyaki sauce and stir to dissolve the miso into a thick but smooth sauce. Pour the miso sauce back into the saucepan with the rest of the teriyaki sauce ingredients and stir to evenly distribute. This method is to prevent the miso from clumping up when added to the sauce.
- At this point, the teriyaki sauce should be glossy and coat the back of a spoon. Set aside while you prepare the burgers.
- Put ground beef into a large mixing bowl. Add three tablespoons of the teriyaki sauce to the beef (this part is optional but highly recommended). Divide beef into four and shape into patties. I recommend flattening the patties until they are about four to five inches in diameter, as they will shrink and puff up slightly as they cook.
- Grill burger patties on medium high for about 4 minutes on each side for medium well. This can be done on an outdoor grill or indoor on the stovetop – adjust the time as needed according to your preference of doneness (less for medium, more for well done, etc). Brush some of the teriyaki sauce onto the patties in the last minute of cooking.
- Remove patties from heat and dunk into the remaining teriyaki sauce.
- Place patties, lettuce, and any other burger toppings onto your buns. Serve immediately. Leftover teriyaki burger patties can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
- Although teriyaki burgers at both Japan and Hawaii restaurants and food stalls may not include pineapple slices a la the Red Robin Banzai Burger, obviously you can do whatever you want and add toppings as you like! Cheese, tomato, kewpie mayo – customize to your preference.
- If you don’t want to make the teriyaki sauce from scratch, I highly recommend Bachan’s Original Japanese BBQ sauce as a substitute.
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