What is Rice Burger?
Rice burger is a hamburger-like dish that uses cooked rice pressed into a round shape instead of bread for the bun. It was originally introduced in 1987 by the Japanese fast food chain Mos Burger, and it has become a popular food across East Asia since then.
According to the official Mos Burger website, the idea for creating Mos Burger came from using Japan’s staple food to create a new product as an alternative to a regular hamburger made with bread buns. In fact, Mos Burger is one of the first Japanese-born burger chains and appeared a little after American fast-food chains McDonald’s and KFC started to gain popularity in Japan.
Incidentally, the idea of using rice instead of buns was not an easy one. In order to prevent the rice from losing its shape, the creators took some inspiration from yaki onigiri and decided to grill the rice. Despite all these years, it remains a firm favorite on the Mos Burger menu.
By the way, rice burger is not the only unusual burger available at Mos Burger, check out this lettuce leaf burger! Great for those who are trying to cut down on carbs.
To me, this has gone too far, but you can kind of tell that Mos Burger has always been an avant-garde burger chain. But wait… when I walked past another Japanese burger chain “Lotteria” the other day, I also found something called “DX Tyranno chicken burger”.
Fried chicken instead of burger buns! Well, that was a little glimpse of everyday life in Japan. Even though I was born and raised in Japan, food ideas and innovation in Japan have never stopped amusing me.
Ingredients & Substitution Ideas
- Cooked Japanese Short-Grain Rice – It’s important to use Japanese short-grain white rice for this recipe. It has a sticky texture and holds together when shaped. Other kinds of rice, like long-grain basmati or jasmine rice, are too dry and will only fall apart when shaped. I recommend checking out my guide on how to cook perfect Japanese rice in a pot, along with suggested rice brands easily found in the U.S.
- Thinly Sliced Beef – I’d go for beef typically used for Philly cheesesteaks – thin slices of ribeye or top round work great.
- Rice Bun Ingredients – To craft fluffy, lightly crisp rice buns, you’ll need potato starch, toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil for frying, soy sauce for brushing, and frilly lettuce.
- Yakiniku-Style Sauce – For a sweet & savory sauce, combine grated apple, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake, honey, and chili bean sauce to taste.
Here, I will list all the alternative ingredients, substitutions and variations against the recipe card below to make the best rice burger to your preference:
- Chicken or pork – instead of beef. You could even try filling the rice burger with elements of other recipes, such as teriyaki chicken, chicken tsukune, or ginger pork!
- Other types of starch such as cornstarch (instead of potato starch)
- Gochujang (instead of tobanjan)
Curious about the exact brands and products that bring my recipes to life? Discover the brands and ingredients behind my recipes at the Sudachi Amazon Storefront. Explore my handpicked pantry essentials and find your next kitchen favorites!
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsVisual Walkthrough & Tips
Here are my step-by-step instructions for how to make Beef Rice Burger at home. For ingredient quantities and simplified instructions, scroll down for the Printable Recipe Card below.
Mix cooked Japanese rice in a bowl with potato starch and sesame seeds. (I cooked my rice in a rice cooker, but see here for how to cook Japanese rice on the stove.) The potato starch helps bind it together more firmly, while the sesame seeds add a toasty flavour.
Once all the ingredients are well distributed through the rice, divide it into portions. I made 2 rice burgers so I divided the rice into 4.
A large round cookie cutter (or something similar) shapes the rice into discs. (I used a 9cm approx 3.5 inches egg ring like this to shape mine.) Place the cookie cutter/egg ring on a flat surface and press the rice into the mold. You should press the rice firmly enough to hold it together but not so hard as you crush it.
Carefully push the rice discs out of the molds and place them on a plate. Cover them in plastic wrap and rest them in the fridge for 30 minutes. (This step helps dry them out a little so they don’t fall apart when frying and assembling the rice burger.)
Start by grating garlic, apple, and ginger and mixing it in a bowl with soy sauce, tobanjan, sake, and honey.
Once the ingredients are combined, place your thinly sliced beef in the bowl and mix thoroughly until evenly coated.
Cover and marinate in the fridge until the rice is ready.
Preheat a large frying pan to medium and add a drizzle of sesame oil. Place the rice discs in the frying pan and fry on each side for 1 minute.
While they’re frying on one side, brush the top with soy sauce. Repeat on the other side after flipping them over.
Once both sides have been brushed with the sauce, flip one last time and continue to fry for 30 seconds so that both sides have a lightly charred soy sauce taste.
Remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly before assembling.
Heat a pan on medium (it’s fine to use the same pan you used to cook the rice) and add a drizzle of vegetable oil.
Once it’s hot, add the beef and marinade together into the pan and fry until the meat is cooked through and the sauce is reduced completely.
Any fat or excess liquid from the meat that leaks onto the rice can cause it to lose its stickiness and fall apart; although creating a barrier using lettuce helps, it’s still important to reduce the sauce completely to prevent messy, broken burgers!
Stack the rice burger in this order: rice “bun” → layer of frilly lettuce → generous layer of pan fried yakiniku beef → rice bun.
Serve and enjoy!
Jump to Full Recipe MeasurementsI hope you enjoy this Yakiniku Rice Burger recipe! If you try it out, I’d really appreciate it if you could spare a moment to let me know what you thought by giving a review and star rating in the comments below. It’s also helpful to share any adjustments you made to the recipe with our other readers. Thank you!
More Japanese Beef Recipes
- Gyukatsu (Japanese Beef Steak Cutlet)
- Sukiya Gyudon (Japanese Beef Bowl)
- Beef Udon Noodle Soup (Niku Udon)
- Beef Kushiyaki (Japanese Beef Skewers)
Want more inspiration? Explore my Beef Recipe Roundup Post for a carefully selected collection of tasty udon recipe ideas to spark your next meal!
Yakiniku Rice Burger (Mos Burger Style)
Ingredients
Rice “buns”
- 360 g cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- 1 tbsp potato starch
- ½ tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil for frying
- 1 tsp soy sauce for brushing
- 2-4 leaves frilly lettuce
Instructions
- Mix 360 g cooked Japanese short-grain rice with ½ tbsp toasted sesame seeds and 1 tbsp potato starch until evenly distributed.
- Divide the rice into two portions per burger and shape. I recommend using a round cookie cutter/egg ring placed on a flat surface and firmly pushing the rice into the mold. Transfer the shaped rice onto a plate, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Grate 2 tbsp apple, ½ tsp ginger root and ½ tbsp garlic into a mixing bowl or sealable container and add 1 tbsp soy sauce, ½ tbsp sake, 1 tbsp honey and ½ tsp chili bean sauce. Mix well, add the beef and mix again until evenly coated. Cover the bowl and marinate in the fridge until it's time to cook. (Approx 20 minutes)
- After 30 mins has passed, heat a large frying pan on medium and once it's hot add 1 tsp toasted sesame oil. Place the rice disks and fry for 1 min while brushing the top with a thin layer of 1 tsp soy sauce.
- Flip and fry for another minute while brushing the cooked side with soy sauce. Flip once more and fry for 30 seconds before transferring the rice "buns" to a plate to rest.
- In the same pan, drizzle 1 tsp cooking oil and add the 150 g beef and sauce together. Stir fry until the beef is cooked through and the liquid reduced completely.
- Assemble each rice burger in this order: rice bun → 2-4 leaves frilly lettuce → yakiniku beef → (optional: another layer of lettuce) → rice bun.
- Serve and enjoy!
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