Beef
Wagyu Smashburgers on Another Level
Holy Grail Steak Co. Sent us a beautiful pack of Wagyu beef patties and Hot Dogs. Wagyu is the most mentioned beef these days and is highly coveted and revered. Fun Fact: Live Wagyu Cattle from Japan are currently banned for export, but the meat is not. You can only buy Japanese Wagyu in the U.S. in extremely limited supplies.
American Wagyu comes from bovine lineages that came stateside before the ban in 1997. Due to the meticulous farm to table process, both Japanese Wagyu and American Wagyu have the distinctly sought after marbling and tenderness,, resulting in a melt in your mouth explosion of flavor.
Wagyu Smashburgers
With this premium beef, we had to upscale our preparation. I present to you the Truffle Cheese Wagyu Smashburger and the Teriyaki Barbecue Wagyu Smashburger. Both burgers were made using a plancha to capitalize on the precious Wagyu fat content. And it is necessary for smashing! We started not with the common onion, but with thinly sliced French shallots. These were lightly sautéed on the plancha and then placed in burger formation. The patties were then arranged directly on top of the shallot beds. The patties designated for the truffle burger were sprinkled with truffle salt, while others were drizzled with teriyaki sauce. After a few minutes, the smashing began using a cast iron burger press. These were then flipped to allow the other side to cook. Once done, I sautéed sliced shiitake mushrooms in the leftover Wagyu juices to be later used on the Teriyaki burger. Instead of regular old buns, I opted for brioche and placed these directly in the Wagyu juices as well to toast up.
For the Truffle Cheese Wagyu Smashburger, slices of Moliterno al Tartufo cheese were placed on the cooked patties. Instead of your normal iceberg lettuce and plum tomatoes, I opted for adding a layer of microgreens followed by homegrown heirlooms. A drizzle of truffle oil and this burger was ready to go. The Wagyu plus the truffle are a match made in heaven; this burger was beyond!
The Teriyaki Wagyu Smashburger went a different route, calling for leaves of bok choi and the sautéed shiitakes, drizzled with the teriyaki sauce. This combination was a wonderful fusion of Japanese Steakhouse accented by Wagyu.
Wagyu Smashburgers Recipes
Next week, I’ll show what I did with these awesome hot dogs! Until then, grill on!
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