Here’s yet another Japanese recipe for Red Tractor Week – just because the produce is British, doesn’t mean the recipes have to be! I’m taking part in a challenge to share my favourite recipes containing Red Tractor products, and I picked up some beef mince from Lidl with the Red Tractor logo so I could share this recipe with you. The Red Tractor logo on your food means that the product has reached the standard set out for animal welfare, food safety, traceability, and environmental protection. Plus, it can be traced back to British farms! (See the website here for more info.)

I love making these little burgers using pork and beef mince, although you can just use beef if you prefer. As you can see, they work really well in bento or lunch boxes, but equally you can have them for dinner. I like to serve them with rice, but you can also serve them with potato wedges for a more western-style meal.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Butter
• 200g minced pork
• 300g minced beef
• 25g breadcrumbs
• 75 ml milk
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper
• 4 tbsp mirin
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tsp sugar

Method

Sauté the onion in butter for five minutes until softened. Add to the pork and beef (remembering to cool the onion first unless you’re cooking right away) and mix.

Add the milk to the breadcrumbs and allow it to absorb the liquid. Then, add this along with the egg and seasonings to the onion and meat mixture, and mix well.

Form the mixture into bento sized hamburgers. You should be able to get 20 small hamburgers from this – you can vary the size depending on how many you want to fit in the bento. Or make them into larger burgers and serve four adults for a dinner.

Chill in the fridge for an hour to set, then remove and fry gently in oil until they are cooked through.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat the mirin, then add the soy sauce and sugar. Simmer until thickened, then pour over the burgers.

Allow the sauce to coat the burgers, and cool. The sauce should glaze the meat as it gets cold.

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