Simple Cheese burger

Good evening purchasers of engine oils!

Today's entry is a simple one, but nevertheless another example of how you can save some money and achieve great tasting food without spending extra.

The emergence of the newfound trend of 'burger bakar' has transformed the meat sandwich into another product altogether in recent years. In Malaysia, burgers were often associated with dry flavorless unknown meat patties sandwiched between two sesame seed bun halves. Accompanied with the usual trio of cucumber, cabbage and tomatoes, you also get a healthy dose of mayo and chili sauce. And honestly, it was a great item until the inflation started creeping into the humble Ramli burger. Nowadays a simple burger can cost as much as RM2.50, whilst anything extra can set you up to RM5-6. The more revently celebrated burger bakar will cost you at least RM7-8 for a standard and will go up to to RM15 for specials. Whilst these prices are not bad when you consider what else is out there, it is important to look at what they are putting into your sandwich. 

I've stopped eating hot dogs for over ten years now for a very simple reason; hot dogs or commercially produced frankfurters are made from things that are not worth mentioning here. Just do a quick google and you will see what I mean.

So my biggest challenge this week is not about the cost as much as trying to use fresh beef rather than the 'unknown meat' variety.

Starting with the patty, I am going to use ground chuck. A lot of you who have eaten burger bakar may have noticed that you often found small pieces of bones in your patty. The reason being is that the meat used for these 'commercially prepared ground beef' come from unused parts of the cow and these may contain bones. Ground chuck comes from a fattier part of the cow so you would get juicier burgers. If you are not sure what to get, just ask your butcher, and make sure the meat is freshly ground.

Notice the red to white ratio in the beef. If you buy those frozen ground beef, it is mostly white (fat and sinews). The sinews  are the unchewable part of the beef that can't be eaten in burger form. So more reason not to buy from Mr. Ram. My recipe is very simple: salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, cumin and corriander seeds (ground). Mix all the ingredients with your hands and roll into small balls. Flatten into that familiar burger patty shape.

My favourite topping for burgers would be onions, caramelized of course. Chop half a large onion and cook them on low heat with some butter. Add a pinch of salt. Keep stirring to stop the onions from crisping up. Normally you won't have an issue if you do a large batch, but with a small one, you need to keep moving them around. When the onions are soft, add a splash of worcesthershire sauce. They're done.

You can cook the burgers on a grill, but I am making only a couple so, a pan is fine. Use a stainless steel or cast iron, not a non-stick. Because you want the brown crust don't you? That's the ticket to flavourtown. Melt some butter and cook your burgers to your preferred doneness. Do not squish the burgers when you cook them. You'll just make them dry. 

The paprika will make the burgers look a bit dark but nothing to worry about. 

Now for the cheese. Mozarella. End of story. Spend a bit on some moza slices (about less than RM1 per slice) and you'd be amazed at the result bro. The trick to melting cheese is very simple. Place the cheese on the patty while it is still on the pan finishing its cooking. Splash a bit of water (careful, hot fat) and cover for about 20 seconds.

That's some creamy looking melted cheese man!

Assemble the usual suspects!

That's it! Took me less than half an hour from start to finish and cost about RM4-5 per burger. A bit higher than your roadside fare, but certainly cheaper than the burger bakar establishments with their bone chips in patties and chewy sinews.

Enjoy and keep cooking!