When I first tried Plan B’s Wagyu burger I became somewhat of a blathering fool. Everyone that I knew was harassed into trying it. When I’m onto a good thing I like to let people know and indeed the Wagyu burger that I had was certainly a thing of sensory beauty: a thick delicious coarse ground beef patty, moist and mouthwateringly delicious, with a come-hither-and-consume-me aroma and a burnished bronze brioche bun. It was probably the best burger I’ve ever had (and I’ve tried many). When I lamented that because I don’t work in the city I find it hard to get my Plan B Burger fix, fellow blogger Reem linked me to the Gourmet Traveller website that had the recipe for their burger. Like one of Pavlov’s dogs I instantly started salivating at the memory. Yes, I could have it again!
The perfect day to have this was of course Australia Day. Our friends Gina and Hot Dog have a pool which usually means a visit there every Australia Day where the mercury reaches Simpson Desert levels. So together with Teena and Phillippe we headed over to their house and we brought the Wagyu burgers.
I saw the recipe stipulated Brioche rolls and I do recall how well they went together – the sweet, buttery golden bun going so well with the moist, flavoursome Wagyu patty. The French patisserie near me had brioche rolls but at over $5 per roll (and I needed 6), I figured I could take this chance to make my own. It was fiddly and high maintenance but the end result was sublime. Light and buttery golden. I baked them on the day and even Gina and Hot Dog who are on strict low carb diets enjoyed them. The recipe below does make far more than you will need but as there is a lot of effort in making brioche I felt that we could always eat them for breakfast or lunch or freeze them if we needed to (they do lose the softness pretty quickly so freezing them is best).
Wagyu patties with melted cheese
As for the Wagyu burger itself, believe it or not, the patty itself is simply 3 main ingredients: Wagyu mince (coarsely ground), breadcrumbs and an egg. It doesn’t get much simpler than that. And with only a few minutes to cook and the most incredibly moist burger produced, I was stunned at how easy it was to make a brilliant Wagyu burger and stunned that so many places do bad ones. I am pleased to report that it got a big thumbs up from everyone. This was after a silence where I was bit concerned (I wondered if perhaps they were being polite to tell me that it wasn’t good) but it turns out that the silence was that of them enjoying the burger. And that is a silence I can wholly understand.
Wagyu burger
Makes 4 (or 6 smaller patties)
For Wagyu Patty
- 500 gm wagyu mince, coarsely minced (I bought some already perfectly minced from Tokyo Mart in Northbridge)
- 75 gm dried fine breadcrumbs
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 30 ml Madeira and oil
Caramelised onions
- 30 gm unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 medium brown onions, coarsely chopped
To serve:
- Baby spinach leaves, washed
- Sliced beetroot
- Carmelised onion (see above)
- 6 slices of cheese
- Good quality Mayonnaise
- 2 tsp grapeseed oil
- 4 brioche rolls, split and buttered
Wagyu beef mince from Tokyo Mart-already coarsely ground
1. Place mince in the bowl and mix with breadcrumbs and egg. Season to taste. Mould into patties and place on a tray, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Wagyu patty mixture
2. Make caramelised onion. Combine onion, oil and butter in a saucepan, season to taste and stir frequently over low-medium heat until caramelised (45 minutes). Meanwhile, while the onion is cooking, preheat oven to 250C. Remove onions from pan and set aside to dress burger. Deglaze pan with Madeira, and then fry the burgers in the Madiera’d pan so that they are browned on each side (only 1-2 minutes).
3. Place patties on oven tray and top each patty with a cheese slice and roast until cheese just melts (1-2 minutes).
4. Spread buttered spilt brioche with mayonnaise. Top roll bases with baby spinach leaves, burger patty, caramelised onion and beetroot. Sandwich with roll tops and serve immediately.
Adapted from Plan B’s recipe on the Gourmet Traveller website
Golden Brioche rolls
Makes 10 brioche rolls
- 1/3 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
- 1/3 cup warm milk (105°F to 115°F)
- 2 envelopes/14g/4.5 teaspoons dry yeast
- 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 1/2 cups/3 sticks/320grams unsalted butter, each stick cut into 6 pieces, at room temperature
- 1 egg, beaten to blend with 1 tablespoon water (for glaze)
1. Place the warm water, warm milk, and yeast in bowl of standing heavy-duty mixer; stir until yeast dissolves. Fit mixer with dough hook. Add flour and salt to bowl; mix on low speed just until flour is moistened (you may need to use a spatula to help combine the two) about 10 seconds. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Beat in 3 eggs on low speed, then add sugar. Increase speed to medium and beat until dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding next (dough will be soft and batter-like). Increase speed to medium-high and beat until dough pulls away from sides of bowl which will take about 7 minutes. You’d be surprised at how it does come together after a while as it looks beyond repair at times!
2. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in volume for about 1 hour. Lift up dough around edges and allow dough to fall and deflate in bowl. Cover bowl with plastic and chill until dough stops rising, lifting up dough around edges and allowing dough to fall and deflate in bowl every 30 minutes which is about 2 hours total. Cover bowl with plastic; chill dough overnight.
3. Place baking parchment on 3 baking sheets. Cut dough into 10 pieces and roll roughly into balls. Then pinch a small ball off the main ball and roll it and place it on top of the larger ball. Cover pans with waxed paper. Let rolls rise at room temperature until dough almost fills pans, about 1-2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Gently brush top of rolls with egg glaze. Bake until rolls are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped, about 20 minutes. Cool at least 1 hour.
Recipe adapted from Epicurious
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
37 Comments | Add your own
Wow that looks so good- even at 7am my mouth is watering
The visual appeal on this burger is distracting me from my work. I just want to take a bite already!!!
Ohhh this looks gooood! Can you remember what % fat was in the wagyu mince? and what is Madeira and oil?
wow that’s one hell of a good looking burger
yummy
Mmmmm! That brioche looks fantastic. Might be just the thing to make me get past my ongoing yeast-phobia
I was walking past Plan B a few weeks ago and had a chuckle at the table of burly guys in shirtsleeves, each with a teeny little Wagyu burger in front of them. Should have got one for myself! Your burgers look wonderful. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
That’s dedication to make the roll as well as the filling. They look great.
I can’t beleive the brioche recipe calls for 3 sticks of butter!!! With that amount, it must taste good!!!
Oh, Lorraine, oh…um…*drool*…uh, yum…oh..
ommgg I wannnttt! This looks better than Plan B ones mmmm! You should open up Plan NQN ^^!
Oh that 3rd pic…. *droooooooooooooooooooooooooooool*
My husband would LOVE this – now I know what I’ll be cooking for Valentine’s Day! It looks so good even I’d be tempted to eat it (and I’ve been a vegetarian for 20 years)!!
I don’t you need a lot of seasoning with a such a high quality ingredients. The simpler the better. Using brioche instead of regular buns, make the burger more luxurious!
Cheers,
Elra
I fell in love with brioche on a cruise. I knew they were buttery, but didn’t realize how buttery. I think I may need to try them at home though!
They look awesome. Rockpool in Melbourne does a good waygu burger, but this sounds so much more yummier. Especially with the brioche rolls! Great job!
This looks so good! I really want to try this burger this weekend when I come to Sydney. I saw on Gourmet Traveller that this burger was the number one searched for recipe or something!
DAMN, I gotta get me some of these burgers! They look delicious!
Oh Lorraine, this burger looks amazing & so tasty! I have eaten once the Waygy meat & it was delicious! I ate it grilled with a good salad & some new oven baked potatoes! It looks so good!
Hi sandra-Thankyou! Sorry about that!
Hi Nazarina-I wish I had some in my fridge right now. Nothing like a burger at any time
Hi Kathy-The recipe nor the shop doesn’t specify a % fat which I don’t think they would for a mince. But I’d imagine it wouldn’t be the highest grade Wagyu (nor honestly do I think you need it). Maderia is a fortified wine and oil is whatever oil you want to use for frying.
Hi snookydoodle-Why thankyou so much!
Hi shez-This is definitely the recipe the break through the yeast phobia although it is a challenging one, the result is worth it.
Hi belle-Haha did they look as if they were in the throes of ecstasy with the burgers? You’re welcome!
Hi Arwen-I didn’t think it would be as nice without the brioche. I the end I’m glad that I made it
Hi tara-I know, it’s pretty scary how much butter but it’s worth it
Hi Reemsk-Haha say no more!
Hi Ffichiban-LOL @ Plan NQN. Hehe food porn or what?
Hi Angela-Oh if you do that I belive he’ll be compelled to grant you any wish!
Hi elra-Yes it didn’t need anything else. If in doubt I suppose just use Wagyu!
Hi Barbara-Hehe it’s a bit scary isn’t it. That each roll had about 32grams of butter in it-eek! But not bad for a treat every now and then
Hi Maria-Hehe I’d love to taste test them, that would be cool
Thankyou!
Hi Bria-Oh cool, have a great time you’re in Sydney. The weather is cooler than in Melbourne for once
Oh really, the most searched? Fantastic and I can understand why.
Hi Cappucino-You definitely need to, they are delicious!
Hi Sophie-It is really good, I can never resist Wagyu. With a salad and baked new potatoes would be lovely!
I’ve been craving a hamburger all weekend! Now I want one for breakfast!
you have some good-looking buns there, lorraine.
i adore hamburgers, and before i kick the bucket, i want to try a wagyu burger and that’s all there is to it.
hey NQN, it’s rare that a picture actually physically makes my mouth water…but you did it with this one!
I love bricohe buns for my burger, I can’t eat them any other way. Wagu probably makes an awesome burger, expensive, indulgent and yummy!!
My mouth is watering right now – that looks so good!
I’ve never had Wagyu beef before, but have had Kobe beef – not sure if its similar though.
Yums!
oh yum. can i have the leftovers please???
Impersonator’s comment removed by request of the real Jerzee Tomato
Looks like Jerzee Tomato needs to try the thing before sounding off on it! As they say don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. I’ve had a planb burger and it was **** awesome (I live in brissy tho-dayum!). I’m so going to try the recipe to get my fix. Can’t exactly fly down to sydney every time I want one.
PS I checked out Jerzee Tomato’s profile-woah.
That is one beautiful burger…I’m a total burger addict…the best I’ve ever had so far was in a neighborhood bar in Pittsburgh…sigh…it’s too far away from me now…
but this recipe looks like something I should try…mmm…delicious!
My goodness, looks amazing !!! and I just saw ur picture now, very surprised, I have never thought that u have black hair… beautiful
That is one amazing looking burger! I want one now..
I have no idea where to get Wagyu mince here, something I should look into. Love the fact that you paired it with caramelised onions, yum! x
Hi Blond Duck-Just once I’d love to have a burger for breakfast!
Hi grace-Haha thanks!
Oh most definitely you do have to. IMHO the best burger in the world 
Hi reddoorred-Thankyou! I try my best honestly
Hi Abby-I agree, they really match a luxurious item like Wagyu perfectly!
Hi Biz-Thanks!
I think that Kobe beef is from Wagyu cows so it would be very similar although to qualify for Kobe beef it needs to be raised in Kobe, Japan whereas a lot of the Wagyu cows are reared in Australia (from what I understand).
Hi katy-Hehe sure, except there weren’t any. I wish I had made more!
Hi Jerzee Tomato-The brioche rolls we have here aren’t anywhere as sweet as the rolls the US has (the bread in the US is very, very sweet) so it isn’t anything like a Krispy Kreme donut at all. You could probably see that from the amount of sugar in the recipe.
Hi Brianna-Yes that’s right! It is most indeedy a brilliant burger and this recipe is a great way to have it at home
Haha my thoughts exactly! 
Hi Alexandra-I watched Oprah’s friend Gail go through a burger tour of America. How cool would that have been?
Hi Bean Sprout-Awww thankyou on both counts!
Hi Su-yin-Thankyou! I think maybe some good butchers should have some. If they’ve got it here they should definitely have it in London. It’s so worth making and yes the caramelised onions are a perfect partner!
I don’t eat many burgers. After reading this post, I’m questioning why. This looks fabulously tasty!
Mmm.. that picture of the patty with the melted cheese is sooo mouth watering. I didn’t realise Tokyo Mart sold wagyu mince. Thanks for the tip!
Those burgers and buns look really good!
Hi Sandie-I try not to eat too many burgers but when they’re wagyu I find it very hard to resist
Hi Y-Thanks! Yes they have a fantastic range of Wagyu all in 500g portions as well as Kurobuta pork
Hi Kevin-Thanks so much!
5$ a brioche roll? what the.
Would be nice to get some Wagyu around here. Even all ground up, you can tell how nice and fatty it is.
Hi Jude-Yup, so you can see why I decided to make my own
Perhaps your butcher could order some in as a special order?
One Trackback/Pingback
[...] organic grass fed wagyu burger Chef: Justin North. It’s no secret I love their Wagyu burgers having even made my own. The rolls were a bit hard but they were delicious with a lot of creamy sauce (although there [...]
Post a Comment