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Smashed Burger Recipe

From the Burger Haritası archive · 2020First published in Turkish in 2020, when I ran Burger Haritası, my “Burger Map.” Rewritten in English; the recipe is as it was.

This recipe, which I suspect many of you are hearing about for the first time as the “smashed burger,” is for some people the closest thing to the perfect burger. The glazed crust the patty gets from the Maillard reaction is its signature.

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Smashed burger with cheese sauce, lettuce and tomato
Photo: Sinan Hamamsarılar

Recipe

Smashed Burger

  • Prep5 min
  • Cook3 min
  • Makes1 burger, 2 patties

Ingredients

  • 1 burger bun
  • 180 g beef brisket, ground once, rolled into two 90 g balls
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 slices burger cheese
  • 1 tbsp + 2 tsp Sriracha sauce mix
  • 2 tbsp onion, finely diced
  • 1 slice pink tomato
  • 2 leaves baby Yedikule lettuce
  • Salt, black pepper

Equipment

Cutting board, knife, spoon, salad bowl, cast-iron or carbon steel pan, small offset spatula, serving plate

Method

  1. Heat a cast-iron or carbon steel pan over medium-high heat and melt 1 tbsp butter. Add the balls of meat and press each one down for 10 seconds to sear one side.
  2. Season the top side with salt and pepper.
  3. Flip the patties; cook them for 3 minutes in total, both sides together.
  4. Meanwhile, split the bun, butter it and toast it in the pan over high heat.
  5. Lay a slice of cheese on each patty and, if needed, cover the pan so the cheese melts.
  6. Stack the bottom bun, patties, onion, tomato, lettuce and the sauced top bun, and serve right away.
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