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Japanese Wafu Burger

"These traditional Japanese hamburgers are eaten without a bun. Shiitake mushrooms and tofu make them moist without falling apart, and a mirin glaze adds extra flavor. Absolutely delicious! I like to eat these with cooked daikon (Japanese radish) and rice."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 13 ingredients
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Japanese Wafu Burger

Why it works: Tofu and miso share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 75 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Japanese Wafu Burger

6 servings
Prep25 min
Cook20 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

664Calories
48 gProtein
41 gFat
22 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Tofu100g firm76
Shiitake1/2 cup (73g)34
Miso1 tbsp (18g)34
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tofu + misotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together75 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Shiitake + misotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together25 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Tofu + shiitaketop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together58 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Shiitake + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together552 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tofu, beef, shiitake, mushroom, miso, egg, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tofu, beef, shiitake, mushroom, miso, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.