Homemade Tsukimi Burger (Moon Gazing Burger)

Finely chop beef end cuts.

While McDonald’s Tsukimi burger is made with 100% ground beef patties, I like adding a small amount of pork mince. Pork tends to be juicier than beef, which helps keep the patties moist and adds umami from the pork fat!

I personally recommend buying the beef and pork separately so you can control the ratio, you don’t want to add too much pork otherwise the flavour of the beef will be lost.

In addition to this, I also add some beef end cuts that have been finely diced by hand. This addition improves the texture of the patty and makes it feel more meaty. It’s optional, but I highly recommend it!

Mix panko breadcrumbs with milk.

Soak panko breadcrumbs in milk and add them to the patty mixture for juicier patties that are easier to shape!

Combine beef cuts, ground beef and pork, panko mixture, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt in a bowl. Knead lightly and refrigerate.

You can make the patty mixture ahead of time and store it in the fridge until it’s time to cook. I usually keep it in the fridge for about 15 minutes while preparing the other ingredients.

Sprinkle sugar in a pan, add halved bacon slices, and fry until crispy on both sides, using sugar to caramelize.

In order to make the bacon perfectly crispy and sweet, I add a sprinkle of sugar to a cold frying pan and lay the bacon on top (trying to prevent overlapping if possible). Turn the heat on a low setting to prevent the sugar from burning.

The sugar melts as the pan slowly heats up, making a caramel layer on the bacon! Once cooked on one side, sprinkle another pinch of sugar over the top, flip them over, and fry the other side.

Once they’re cooked, transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.

The most essential part of making this burger a “Tsukimi burger” is the egg fried in a round shape to resemble the full moon. There’s no secret tips or tricks to this, I simply use a round mold (also known as an egg ring) in the frying pan.

If you have any large round cookie cutters, these work, too, as long as you oil them well.

Start by heating a pan on low. Once it’s hot, crack the eggs into the rings, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and break the yolks. Not only does this create a moon surface effect, but it also mixes the salt into the egg rather than having it sitting on the surface.

Don’t worry if a little bit of egg white leaks out from underneath. You can cut it off later. (My pan isn’t perfectly flat, so a little bit leaked out.)

Place a lid on top and cook the eggs on low heat until it becomes firm. This takes about 5 minutes, although it could be longer or shorter depending on the height and width of the egg ring.

By using a lid, the steam gets trapped and cooks the top of the egg, so there’s no need to flip it.

My recipe makes 4 Tsukimi burgers, so I divide the patty mixture into quarters and roll them into balls using the palm of my hand. Next, I toss them from one hand to the other to remove any air that might be trapped in there like this:

McDonald’s patties are usually quite thin so I press them gently in the palm of my hand and then flatten them a bit more when I add them to the frying pan.

Once the patties are cooked on one side, flip them over and add a slice of cheese to each one. This is to melt the cheese before you assemble the Tsukimi burger.

The sauce doesn’t require any cooking. Simply mix Japanese mayonnaise, ketchup, lemon juice, white pepper, salt and paprika powder in a small bowl.

The order of the burger from bottom to top should go bun > patty (with cheese) > egg > bacon > sauce > bun.

And the Tsukimi burger is complete!