Ultra Cheeseburger -- "The Bomb"

Cheap Eats Taiwan
2020年9月1日
讀畢需時 4 分鐘

已更新：2020年11月21日

Probably one of the cheapest, most eco-friendly burgers ever.

NT$ 255 / $8.51

NT$ 127.5 / $ 4.26 per serving

Cost: 8/10

Simple: 9/10

Environmentally-Friendly: 9/10

Delicious: 9/10

Click here for the description of our scale

There’s nothing better than a perfectly juicy cheeseburger. The tender flame-grilled patty that melts in your mouth, the melted cheddar cheese, the crispy bacon, the charred SPAM, the cold iceberg lettuce, the perfectly toasted buns… the list goes on and on.

We are sharing our best secrets for making a perfect restaurant-quality burger, so you do not have to grab a burger for $10 in a mediocre restaurant. This recipe will show you the juiciest burger that you will ever sink your teeth into, and the best budgetary tips that you must use in your life. Start saving your money now!

Pile your burger with your favorite chips, pop open a refreshing drink and enjoy!

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Recipe: Ultra Cheeseburger - "The Bomb"

Prep time: 5-10 min.

Cook time: 10 min.

Total: 15-20 min.

Servings: 2 (Adjust ingredients proportionally for other servings)

Utensils

1. Spatula

2. Non-stick cooking pan (You can also use a cast iron skillet or even a grill, which enhances your flavor a lot)

3. Mixing Bowl

*Ingredients and Costs (Total: 13 ingredients)

500 g Ground Beef: NT$150 ($5.00)

4 slices of Bacon: NT$15 ($0.50)

Half an Onion: NT$10 ($0.34)

Salt: NT$3 ($0.10)

Black Pepper: NT$3 ($0.10)

50-75 g Unsalted Butter: NT$15 ($0.50)

3 tbsp Oil: NT$3 ($0.1)

2 Burger Buns: NT$8 ($0.28)

2 Cheddar Cheese: NT$5 ($0.17)

1 Tomato: NT$10 ($0.34)

Some Iceberg Lettuce: NT$20 ($0.69)

Ketchup: NT$3 ($0.10)

Thousand Island Dressing: NT$10 ($0.34)

NT$255 / $8.51

NT$127.5 / $4.26 per serving

*You can add whatever ingredients you like, as long as you don’t make it too complex. For me, I think that adding bacon, SPAM, and ground beef makes the flavors a bit too complicated. You should probably put at most 2 types of meat to taste the original flavors of the meat.

Steps

Place the ground beef inside a mixing bowl (or any bowl). Season it PLENTIFULLY (Yes, add more salt and pepper) with salt and pepper as you mix them. Add some oil to it as well. (Remember: Season it BEFORE you cook. After you cook your meat, you CANNOT season them. Get all the flavors in your meat before you cook.)*
*Make two patties from the seasoned meat. You can use a lid to help you. (I used a plastic lid that I found in my drawer.)
Preheat to medium heat and add oil and butter to the cooking pan. Put the patty in and add more oil. Cook each side for about 3 minutes and flip. Don’t rush. To determine whether your meat is cooked or not, press your thumb down. When the juice is clear without any blood, your burger is cooked.
Season your burger with salt and pepper on both sides. Put some cheese on 20 seconds before you remove the patty from the grill.
As you are cooking your patty, prepare your bun so you can eat the burger while it’s hot. Sprinkle it with some salt and pepper, toss some butter on your pan, and toast them on it.
Stir fry the onions in the same pan until they’re caramelized (i.e. until they’re golden to dark brown).
Fry the bacon and SPAM until they are crispy.
*Put a touch of thousand island dressing on your bun. Put the lettuce onto your bun and slightly adjust its position so it fits on the bun. Top with some tomatoes. Place the burger on the tomato and put on a touch of ketchup. Throw the bacon, SPAM, and grilled onions on it.

Tips & Notes:

The secret, according to Chef Gordon Ramsay, is to move the burgers as little as possible when you cook it, or you increase the chance that your burger will break.

Step 1: ONLY SEASON WITH SALT AND PEPPER. Do not put in any bread crumbs or eggs. They are unnecessary and kill your budget. You already have some high-quality beef, so please just use it. (P.S. This is my opinion for the best burger. However, I am just a 16-year-old beginner, so I may not be correct.)
Step 2: It’s recommended that you prepare your meat the day before you cook. This allows the meat to absorb the seasonings and solidify.
Step 8: The order of stacking your burger doesn’t matter, but that is my preference.

*Parts of this recipe are modified from Gordon Ramsay’s Perfect Burger, so please check here for more information.

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Step-by-step Process (with Photos)

Here are the ingredients. (Excluding the eggs. I found them redundant and decided to not use them.)

This is what your burger should look like. Please be gentle or you will break your patties.

A pan like this is more than enough for you to master this recipe.

According to Gordon Ramsay, once you put the patties on your pan, the secret is to move the burger as little as possible, because the more you move your burger, the higher the possibility of breaking the burger.