For the longest time, we’ve been making the best darn hamburger on the face of this earth (insert personal bias.) We’ve never had a specific name for the recipe until someone tagged it as the “magic meat”, but not as in “mystery meat” or “I can’t tell if this is chicken or beef.” Rather, it was to describe the magical flavor sensations that everyone experienced when they bit into one of our patties. That “magic meat” term described the juicy, flavorful and savory burger patty that everyone fought over. Sometimes the buns were tossed to the side or forgotten because the meat was just so darn tasty.
It wasn’t until recently, with all the discussion on Umami (the rich, savory taste in foods) that our burger recipe was re-named as the hamburger loaded with Umami. Our hungry friends were always stumped to figure out the secret ingredient and could never, ever pinpoint that “magic” flavor that made our patties so unique. It’s the ultimate burger that is so satisfying and savory, no one can eat just one. Make it a double, please.
But this umami rich burger recipe isn’t a new invention, nor is it a trendy recipe to keep up with the popularity of umami rich foods. It’s a family recipe that started from a Vietnamese family back in the early 80’s, in a 2-bedroom apartment, in the middle of Southern California.
Diane -
That family is obviously mine. Growing up in a Vietnamese family of 6 kids who were always hungry and thirsty for more American foods, my parent had to figure out a way to feed their hungry pack of kids. Back then, hamburgers were the “American’s food”, “that sandwich with that big piece of meat in it, with the red and yellow sauces and the sour cucumber slices.” My siblings and I wanted to eat “Ham-buh-guh” all day long and we wanted it NOW.
My parents figured out that it was much more economical to make burgers at home and did exactly that by created their own recipe for the patties. Of course, being Vietnamese, they marinated the beef in the only way they knew how—splash fish sauce to it. Fish sauce is the golden elixir to us Vietnamese, take it away and you drain the blood out of our cuisine. Fish sauce is the fermented salvation from the food gods above, and it’s pure umami brings out the savory depth in all foods.
With their batch of beef, my parents splashed fish sauce as the one and only marinade into the burger recipe. With the addition of a little sugar for balance, garlic for more aromatic love and black pepper for bite, their simple recipe has evolved into what our friends call today as “The Ultimate Umami Burger.”
This recipe isn’t unique by any means, especially in a Vietnamese household. I’m certain there are many Vietnamese-American families who splashed their burger meat with fish sauce!
Todd -
I know what a lot of you white people are thinking, “Fish sauce? Um, hell no.” But wait, my dear skeptics, and listen to my confessional. For many years when I first joined up with this beautiful, crazy Asian, I avoided fish sauce. Let’s face it, it stinks like something most of us are not used to. It is, after all, fermented anchovies. Mmmm, tasty! Not. At least so I thought, but man, was I ever wrong.
One fine meal while dining on a grilled shrimp ball, I dipped it into the Vietnamese classic Nuoc Cham (Viet Fish Sauce Dip) and I suddenly saw the umami. There was no nasty wired fishiness, instead the fish sauce’s own flavor virtually disappeared and many of the other flavors within the grilled shrimp ball became heightened. Everything was good before, but after the addition of the the fish sauce everything was incredible. I was instantly converted.
Ever since I’ve never hesitated in grabbing for the bottle of fish sauce. It was my brother-in-law, a classic mid-west guy who isn’t normally overly adventurous in his culinary choices, who dubbed the fish sauce laden ground beef as the “Magic Meat.” It was that damn tasty. And now we had another believer in the umami.
Sure everything will be tasty without the umami adding fish sauce. However, it will be even better with the magic sauce.
Print This RecipeThe Ultimate Umami Burger Recipe
Don’t be afraid of the fish sauce. Understand the crucial umami factor that fish sauce brings to food and it will become your best pantry friend. So often, the powerful, pungent punch of fish sauce can be intimidating to cooks who aren’t familiar with it’s marinading magic.
Fish sauce is essentially the salty liquid from the fermentation of small fish and salt. But when used in small quantities, fish sauce brings fabulous umami savoriness to the burgers. It won’t taste like a “fish sauce burger.” It just tastes like a darn great burger! You’ll be a fish sauce marinade convert very quickly.
2 lbs Ground Beef
1 1/2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce (for more daring, savory depth, use 2 tablespoons)
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon fresh ground Black Pepper
Hamburger buns
condiments of your choice
1. In bowl, combine all ingredients together.
2. Allow to marinade for about 20 minutes.
3. Gently form meat into a balls, then flatten into a patties. Cook on a skillet or grill. (1/2 patties on a med./high grill take about 3 min. per side for med. rare burger. Heat temp., thickness, etc. all affect cooking times)
Coming soon……..
- How to make homemade fish sauce – oh yes, and including tips on how to keep your neighbors happy during the fermenting process
- More recipes on how to bring more umami into your cooking
- Fish sauce
- Dried shrimp
- Shrimp paste
- Fermented Soybeans, bean pastes & sauces
- Soy sauce & Oyster sauce
- and more ingredients high on the umami factor
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{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
I am so trying this. Your burgers looks delicious. Kudos to your parents for thinking up this idea! I know if you have to cook them inside you’ll be using a nice hot cast iron skillet, lol.
I just made bluecheese burgers with caramelized onions the other night. They were very tasty of course but I thought the patties were missing something that could turn it way up. Next time, I’m definitely trying this marinade! My boyfriend is a little dubious of fish sauce but as a proud Vietnamese-American, I feel it’s my duty to try to convert him somehow. Can’t wait to make these, watch him take a bite, fall in love, and then I can jump up and yell, “Ah-ha! I told you so!”. I love nuoc mam…
oh yum! I can just imagine how a little bit of fish sauce could really intensify/deepen/transform the taste of a simple burger. I never would have thought of it myself though. I’ll definitely be trying this!
I made grilled (beef) meatballs last week using the Viet flavor combinations… and they were superb! I know that any one growing up with these flavors (Diane) inherently understand their virtues, but if you need any back-up, Todd, I’m here for you!
P.S. It’s so interesting how the components translate across cultures — both have the sweet and sour cucumbers and the red condiment sauce.
LOL your man calls you crazy Asian! that’s so funny; mine calls me crazy arab! I add seven spices and mushrooms to my burgers. Never tried fish sauce. Will try this recipe next time! Thanks for sharing
I can vouch for this — my “crazy Asian” mom did the same thing! My husband had to grow to learn fish sauce as well, but he is a convert now. Fish sauce really is magical. Great post.
Kim – Yeah my Viet sista! we all love fish sauce!
I’m really looking forward to trying this. Plus, my husband and I just bought a place where we finally have outdoor access to have a grill (score!). What kind of beer did you pair with the burger?
So fish sauce is the new black? Lovely, wonderful. Thanks so much. I’m serving this tonight.
Don’t fear the fish sauce… I like that! (Wasn’t that a song by Blue Oyster Cult?) Fish sauce makes EVERYTHING better.
Wow – as a huge fish sauce fan, I can’t believe I never thought of this! I will have to hide the secret from my husband with the palate of a third-grader (he’s happy to put some lamb in his burger, but this might send him over the edge).
I added fish sauce to the burgers I made last weekend on a whim (instead of my usual Worcestershire), and they were by far the best burgers I have ever made! It’s amazing how much beefier that grass-fed beef tasted with a healthy splash of fish sauce in the mix. I’d urge any skeptics to listen to Diane and Todd, and give this a try!
I always have a bottle of Fish Sauce (Patis as it’s called by the Filipinos) and never in my dreams thought about adding it to grond beef to form hamburgers.
I am definitely going to try it this weekend!
WOW, a fantastic sounding burger guys. Fish sauce in there is just genius – but then I expect nothing less from you too, you set such a high standard.
Fish sauce is an amazing ingredient! It’s perfect for crab cakes too.
What a fantastic secret ingredient! Bet you (or your guests) need fewer condiments since the meat is so amazing. Guess I’m going to have to pick up some fish sauce now….
Wow, that sounds kind of amazing! My grocery store only sells fish sauce in these giant bottles, and I own one because you just can’t make good ginger chicken without it, but I’m always excited to find other uses for it- otherwise I’ll be using it for the next 10 years! Kudos to your parents!
I should have guessed that nuoc mam was your stealth ingredient. Love it!
Awesome! Did you see that the latest Saveur is all about the best hamburgers. They obviously missed one.
I love marinating flank or skirt steak in fish sauce, garlic, palm sugar, and cilantro but never thought of using the same combination in a hamburger. Now I must try it.
you know what? at this point in my experiences with you two and your tremendous tastes, this white person will take you at your word that the fish sauce belongs. i won’t question it for even a second.
Oh boo. Why didn’t I read this yesterday?! I just prepped a ton of burgers for our weeklong camping adventure and would have totally experimented w/ ur magical mystery savory burgerness….though there’s gotta be a layer of dust on the bottle of fish sauce I bought for a recipe forever ago and was clueless as to how to use again. Now I know, use it for Umami!
You can always splash a bit of fish sauce on top of the burgers after you cook them as well. Bring the bottle along when you go camping! Have a great time. -WORC
Diane, Todd — if can stand even more umami, pulverize some dried shiitake in a spice grinder, and liberally sprinkle over both sides of the burger. If you’re cooking it in a frying pan, it will form a magical crust. Keep the fish sauce, and you’ll have an umami explosion!
Hey there, I just posted a new peach recipe for Summer Fest! Peach Elderberry Jam:
http://bit.ly/9twgo
I’m actually thinking of all the savory uses for this jam, and I think it would go really well with meat. How about a tiny bit of jam over a ground pork burger?
You had me at ‘umami’. I’m making these. As soon as I get a good new bottle of fish sauce.
I love fish sauce and always keep a bottle in my pantry. I use it for Vietnamese simmered fish and for making a dipping sauce but I’ve never thought of adding it to regular old American food. I can’t wait to try the burger recipe. I can’t believe I never thought to try fish sauce for other things.
I’ve been using fish sauce on my grilled chicken for years but I’ve never thought to put in a hamburger! Thanks!
What a great idea! I love fish sauce and splash it all over the place when I’m cooking. Well not everywhere. I do leave it out of my spaghetti sauce!
I am definitely adding it to my next batch of burgers, though.
Fish sauce is way way up there in my most used ingredients! Love it on leftover rice for lunch. I totally can see why it would do a burger good! Never done it but doh! (slapping forehead)…heck yeah!
My dad used to make us “steak tartare” where he would mix the meat with a sauce called “viandox” in France and we were crazy for it in anything. The flavor reminds me a lot of a toned down – westernized meat version of fish sauce. Salty but not as fermented as fish sauce. I’ll grab a couple of bottles next time, hop on a plane, get to your house, make some burgers with it while you make yours and we can have another party!!
They look outstanding!
I am definitely making this very soon, but of course will say nothing about the “secret ingredient” to my beloved husband…
I love fish sauce, always have it in the house, but it sits in a cabinet in the patio, the poor thing, all alone
WOW! Who would have thought it? I love fish sauce- and that burger certainly looks umami to me! Thanks!
Hi there,
Do you have a fish sauce brand you recommend? (or just take a pic of your fish sauce bottle and put it up here so I can see what the label looks like?)
There’s so many in 99 Ranch, I don’t know which to choose.
Thanks,
Jasmine
There are a lot brands that are quite good, just with subtle nuance differences. Unless you are using it straight for a dip, it won’t matter too much which one you choose, so for marinades feel free to use what you’ve got because it will be hard to tell any difference. However, we do still have our favorites, with our number one fish sauce being the Flying Lion brand. It’s an orange label with a yellow sun, a large anchovy across the sun and the shape of Vietnam and a fishing boat silhouetted in the background. Another favorite is the Three Crab brand. -WORC
I just got a bottle of fish sauce from a friend, he says this is by far the best he has come across. He has a little note about it on his flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/akatayama/2549809015/
I love me a simple classic hamburger. I think I am going to try this for sure.
The minute I saw “it’s a family recipe that started from a Vietnamese family” I thought FISH SAUCE.
I have some right now and have been craving burgers something fierce as of late. Will try this, absolutely.
Wow, I love burgers and I love fish sauce so definitely must make this tomorrow. Couldn’t help but smile at the comments from those with dusty or idling bottles of fish sauce. I always buy the large bottles and it never lasts me longer than 2 months, if even. I put fish sauce on everything, including tart or unripe fruits. Mmmm!
Thanks for sharing your “secret.” Also, how fatty is your ground beef? I don’t mind a 80% or 85% mix, but the mister doesn’t touch anything less than the 97% lean. I wonder if it would be just as good with such a lean mix.
We are usually grind the cuts we want in a grinder at home, but it is rarely lean. If we are short on time we’ll usually buy the 85%. With the leaner stuff it might not be as juicy, but it will still benefit just as much from the fish sauce. For the best meat, especially lean meat, find a good grass fed beef source. Grass fed beef tend to be leaner, but incredibly well flavored and tender meat. There are other factors that figure into the quality of the beef, but that is a great place to start. -WORC
I tried this today for lunch and it worked a treat — great tip, and it totally makes sense. Mmm glutamate!
I love fish sauce, can’t wait for you to post about how to make it. When you say crushed garlic, this to me means just smushed cloves, which doesn’t seem right. Should we use a garlic press? ps My challenge with burgers is I’m actually scared to eat the stuff from the store. Good reminder to buy a meat grinder.
Crushed garlic means pounded the crap out of in a mortar & pestle. If you are lacking that, then you can either finely mince, then smash with the flat of the knife or else use a garlic press. -WORC
Wow. Looks amazing! I might have to introduce a new burger to our cookouts. Speaking of which, I need to start exercising my powers of persuasion to get the husband to fire up the grill this weekend…
For those who aren’t crazy about fish sauce, how about substituting mushroom soy sauce? It’s not the same flavor, but it’s loaded with umami.
That would work too. Like you said, “Not the same flavor” but it would still be tasty. But we super encourage everyone to give the fish sauce a chance. – WORC
This looks like it will be the perfect partner to the kolsh ale that we just finished brewing that we infused with a little white nectarine. Can’t wait to try these burgers!
Just to report back that I made these tonight and my husband was like “oh man! what did you put in these?! they’re awesome!” and i thought that they were bloody delicious too! thanks!
I grew up with fish sauce in my hamburgers too!
Fish sauce in everything. I found your website recently thru Vietkitchen. I’m so happy. I grew up only cooking a few dishes. I want to surprise my mom on a lot of dishes that I stupidly didn’t watch her make when I was a kid.
Yahoo answers posted a question on making a perfect burger, I included your recipe and a link!
THIS is my kind of burger. This is the very kind we make back home in Thailand. Fish sauce is magic. This is the ultimate burger. Thanks for spreading the love for fish sauce.
You have such a beautiful website! I’m definitely going to try this burger, thanks so much for all the wonderful recipes.
Great recipe! Always knew something was missing from my burgers and I made these
tonite…SuperFantasticdelicioso!
Thanks for the tip
Hello, this is the first tip I took from your wonderful website. I splashed my homemade Japanese fish sauce into my stuffed green pepper. Made some for lunch and dinner, couldn’t stop until they were gone!
Okay, you convinced me. I bought fish sauce for the first time, and made these for lunch yesterday. The best burgers I’ve ever made. Excellent cooking directions too; perfect medium rare burgers. Thank you Todd and Diane!
mmmm….but what to do for my vegetarian hubby in his quest for an umami veggie burger?
Lynn- just add soy sauce!! This will give nice umami depth too.
Fish sauce? Hell yeah!!! We also use fish sauce a whole lot over here (Philippines — we call it patis) and it does add legions of umami to dishes
I have never thought of adding it to my burger patties though…you can bet I am going to try that next! Thanks for passing this along!
I tried your recipe last night with a slight modification: 1 Tbsp. of “Three Crabs” brand fish sauce and 1 Tbsp. of Maggi seasoning sauce. Delicious!!!!
Re: Susan at Sticky,Gooey,Creamy,Chewy
Today after reading this post I tried putting fish sauce in my spaghetti meat sauce. It was delicious! My husband really loved it too, I only revealed afterwards that had fish sauce and he was amazed.
Based on the number of enthusiastic responses, it looks like you have hit the umami burger jackpot.
Following our refrigerator’s melt down I was forced to throw away everything in my refrigerator–including my 2 bottles of fish sauce. I’m quietly having a bit of an anxiety attack being without the sauce, especially now that I’ve read this article/recipe. MUST GO BUY FISH SAUCE TONIGHT!
Thanks for the motivation to hurry up and replenish my larder! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
My husband and I LOVE fish sauce! I laughed when I saw “magic meat” because we make a “magic sauce”. It’s made with equal parts fish sauce and chopped thai bird chilis. It marinates in the fridge and we add it to practically everything. When it runs low, we just add more of the ingredients. It ROCKS! We’ve added to salmon burgers, but have not thought to make hamburgers with it. We will now!
BTW – I grew up in North Eastern Oregon (Baker) and now live in the Bay Area with my Japanese husband.
Wow, I’ve actually been looking into making my own burgers for a while, this looks fantastic! I’ll have to try it out!
I have done the same process with Turkey burgers and it was fantastic. I was looking for something to boost the turkey flavor and had decided a umami punch was the answer. I went back and forth between soy and fish sauce, but decided on Fish sauce due to the mild nature of the turkey. I haven’t tried the soy yet, but I will try it in the ground beef.
Scott – oooh, turkey burgers marinated in fish sauce, sounds like a winner!
this looks lovely. what a great post. i’m happy that i stumbled across your blog and look forward to monitoring it going forward. and i gotta say a bit about fish sauce… it has been my personal “secret ingredient” for some time. i have some dear friends that are filipinos and they introduced me to this wonderful condiment, and ever since i basically use it instead of worcestershire sauce. i think it has more depth and bite and richness of flavor. a big fan… i also now used many other traditionally asian condiments in my “western” recipes with great success. looking forward to reading more of you “fusion” cooking techniques…
I’m looking at a bottle of Lea & Perrins Worchestershire sayce, a very common burger sesasoning in the USA and the UK.
The ingredients are: vinegar, sugar, salt, ANCHOVIES, tamarind, etc.
I can’t WAIT to try fish sauce on my next burger!
I read this awhile ago and thought “hmm…interesting”. I was making burgers a couple of weeks ago and remembered the fish sauce after I’d already made the patties, and went back and forth re: should I toss all the meat back after making these perfectly sized and shaped patties, and add the fish sauce or not? I am SO glad I opted to do so! I wasn’t sure how much to put in so I just winged it. Didn’t share with dh what I’d done but while he was eating his burger, he said “wow, this meat is REALLY good, isn’t it?”! I eventually told him what I’d added and now this is the way I’ll prepare burgers all the time. Definitely fantastic and makes all the difference in the world! Thank you!
Seanna- wonderful! Glad you had a last minute (literally) change of plans and tossed the meat back! Fish sauce definitely makes all the difference in the world.
Yes, I’ve been using fish sauce instead of salt for years. It adds a certain depth to my dishes that plain cooking salt can’t equal.