One-Pan "Screw-It" Loco Moco: Turning Ground Meat into a Demi-Glace Burger with Consommé

The flavor he is aiming for is like "a deconstructed cheeseburger," characterized by its sweet-and-savory taste. Put it on bread and it's a burger; put it on rice and it's loco moco. He positions it as a two-birds-with-one-stone recipe that both "bread people and rice people" can enjoy. The key to the flavor, he said, is consommé.

The ingredients are as follows, for 2 to 3 servings.

• About 300g mixed ground beef and pork (you can reduce it to around 200g for 2 servings)
• 1 onion (about 240g)
• 3 eggs
• Shredded pizza cheese
• 3 bowls of rice, or about 3 slices of thick-cut sandwich bread (6 slices per loaf)

Ryuji says people have recently been telling him his cooking videos are long, so he wants to keep the "Screw-It Series" quick and easy. Still, he said he wants a drink, and with "it's a burger, after all, as far as what's inside goes," he cooked with a highball in hand.

The only cutting involved is the onion. While saying that anyone who finds it a hassle can use a tool like the Bun Bun Chopper, he remarked, "Maybe I'll show you how I actually live once in a while," and minced it with a knife this time.

Two-thirds of the onion is mixed into the meat. He says this bulks it up and makes for a hearty result. The remaining third is used raw as a topping. He says burgers come topped with raw chopped onion, and that's what gives them a fresh feel. At one point a staff member replied, "I don't really eat hamburgers, so I wouldn't know," but Ryuji used a burger from a chain he likes as an example to explain the effect of raw onion.

If possible, soak the topping onion in water. When he tasted it, it was a little sharp, so he soaked it this time too. He says this takes the bite out, making it easier for kids to eat. You can skip it if it's a hassle, but his view is that it tastes better if you do it.

Melt a pat of butter in a frying pan. This is for aroma. Season the mixed ground meat with salt and pepper, and brown it over medium-high heat. He says that, just like searing a hamburg patty with a sizzle, the trick to making it delicious is to "cook it like you're cooking meat" without breaking it up too much.

Once it's browned all over, add the minced onion (two-thirds) and cook it through. The onion adds bulk and a vegetable element. On top of that, the sweetness released as it cooks also works its way into the sauce. That is why, he explained, the trick is to add plenty of it.

From here, the process is about finishing the ground meat in a demi-glace style. Ryuji explains that coating the ground meat in demi-glace creates a flavor "just like a hamburger."

He uses one consommé cube rather than granules. When a staff member asked, "You're doing it with a cube?", Ryuji answered as follows: many households still buy consommé in cube form, so people had asked for recipes that could also be made with cubes. One cube is equivalent to 2 teaspoons of granules. To the staff member who worried whether it would dissolve, he shot back, "Don't underestimate the cube," adding that it would dissolve since water goes in too.

The seasonings are added in the following order.

• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 6 shakes of pepper
• 10 shakes of garlic powder

According to Ryuji, the basis for making a quick demi-glace is ketchup and sauce. Adding flour thickens the sauce and makes it more like demi-glace. The pepper and garlic are added for aroma, because patties taste better with the aroma of pepper and garlic. Fresh garlic is fine too, but he said powder is easier to use, and lately he's been using nothing but powder.

Finally, add 120cc of water and simmer to dissolve the consommé. As the sauce reduces, its color also starts to look more like demi-glace sauce.

In response to a staff member's question, "How does adding consommé change the flavor?", Ryuji explained as follows. Demi-glace sauce is originally made by simmering beef. Consommé is packed with beef umami and contains beef extract, chicken extract, and vegetable umami as well. Combining it with ketchup and Worcestershire sauce makes a quick demi-glace sauce. Since that is then coated onto the ground meat, the reasoning goes, it ends up tasting like a demi-glace hamburg steak.

He also said he tried other ingredients such as chicken stock, but they didn't bring out the "demi feel." His conclusion is that consommé is what creates this flavor.

Once the sauce is done, make three wells in the meat and crack the eggs into them. Cover with a lid, turn the heat to low, and steam-cook. Meanwhile, drain the topping onion and get the rice or bread ready.

Don't add the cheese from the start; scatter the pizza cheese when the edges of the eggs start to turn white and they're about to become soft-set. He says this makes the cheese melt nice and gooey. As for how firm the yolks should be, it's "entirely a matter of preference"—some people like them runny, and some don't.

Once it's done steaming, top with the water-soaked raw onion. Ryuji emphasized that this "gives it a seriously burger-like feel," adding that you can adjust the amount to taste. Finally, sprinkle black pepper over everything and it's done.

Since the ground meat hasn't been made into a patty, it can be put straight onto rice and eaten. Ryuji described this as "you'll fly." He also says it's easy because you can make three servings at once in a single frying pan. That said, he admits he makes it thinking that if it were just him, he'd probably eat about 1.5 servings.

When serving it on rice, laying down some lettuce if you like adds even more of a burger feel. The contents of the pan are divided into three "islands," each centered on an egg. For the bread, he finished it by piling on plenty of meat.

After eating the bread version, Ryuji and the staff first reacted with "That's a burger" and "It's demi-ish." They praised the water-soaked raw onion, saying its crisp texture makes a world of difference. Ryuji reiterated that it's an extra step, but "even if it's screw-it," it tastes better if you do it.

The rice version turned out to be a dish with the feel of "plopping the inside of a hamburger right on top of rice." Ryuji said that without the meaty umami of this consommé, it's hard to get this flavor. A staff member who ate the bread version described it as "a demi-glace burger from a really nice place." Compared with a cheeseburger-style dish he'd made before, the taste was completely different, and the reaction was that the difference lay in the "demi feel." The fact that you can make this amount and eat it with either rice or bread was also well received, and a staff member grumbled, "I have to go out to eat after this, but I can't stop eating."

Suggested variations included putting Tabasco on the rice, sandwiching in lettuce, and topping it with pickles. As an idea for making it more of a drinking snack, someone suggested using raw green peppers as cups and piling it on top. The peppers are chilled to make them crisp. The staff were amused, calling it "a devilish idea" and saying, "I never would have thought of that."

When they actually tried it on green peppers, topped with "Majisco," Ryuji's own hot sauce, someone said, "Maybe it's the peppers," suggesting it might go better with them than with rice or bread. Putting meat miso on green peppers is a common way to eat them, but they also discovered that it works with eggs and cheese on top too. The verdict was that it's a flavor that keeps the drinks flowing.

To wrap up, Ryuji summarized the ways to eat it. When you want a hearty meal, go with rice; when you want a drinking snack, put it on green peppers. Saying you can eat it straight with a spoon or put it on bread, rice, or green peppers, he ended the video by urging viewers to try making it with consommé.