Umami Hamburgers

Welcome back, my loves.  Let me start off by saying this one is really special.  There's a lot of love in this one.  I want you to do a favor for me.   I want you to sit there and conjure up the most delicious steak you've ever eaten.  The juicy savory taste as those flavors flood your mouth.  That savoriness is called Umami.  Its an effect between ribonucleotides and glutamate.  When foods rich in these two components are combined the resulting taste is more intense.  I love this because it's a chemical reaction in your mouth.  I even love the word.  Umami.  You can find umami in several foods you probably already love.  Tomatoes, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, some red wines, and steaks are all umami rich foods.  Knowing this gave me the courage to try this next recipe.  Umami Hamburgers.  Even my most pickiest eaters loved these.  They are not aware of the special ingrediant: Fish Sauce.  Yep, that's right.  I said FISH SAUCE.  I bought a bottle of Thai Kitchen's Premium Fish Sauce for less than $3.00 at my local HEB.  My mother has even gone so far as to add 2 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce to her meatloaf recipe.  Pure Heaven!

Ingrediants:

• 2 Lbs Ground Beef
• 2 Tablespoons of Fish Sauce
• 2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• ½ Tsp Sugar
• 1½  Tsp Worchestershire Pepper

Don't forget the Hamburger Buns, veggies, and condiments of your choice.

In bowl combine all ingrediants together. 
Gently form meat into balls, then flatten into patties.
Cook on skillet or grill.

We used a George Foreman grill set at 380°
Cooked patties for 4 minutes, flipped, then cooked for another 4 minutes.

Cooking technique, thickness of meat and heat temperature will affect cooking time.

I found this recipe at
http://www.whiteonricecouple.com/

And found out more about Umami at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

And:
The Umami Information Center
http://www.umamiinfo.com/