Burger Bowl: Gluten-Free and Delicious

Do you love burgers as much as we do? If so, you need to ditch the bun and eat a burger bowl with rice. It sounds odd but it tastes so good. And, as a bonus, this burger bowl recipe is gluten free!

Burger Bowl with RicePhoto by2foodtrippers

While constructing our tuna poke bowl recipe we wondered - "What else would work in rice bowl?" Chicken fajitas? Sure. An omelette? Of course. (Admittedly, the Japanese already have that on covered.)

Cheeseburgers? Why not?

It's not that we don't love bread. We do. But our carb horizons expanded once we've discovered the utter wholesome goodness of Japanese short grain rice. Japonica rice, commonly called sushi rice, has a satisfying bite and nutty flavor. Sushi chefs have used high quality rice to elevate raw fish. Why couldn't we use sushi rice to do the same for burgers?

During a normal workday, hungering for lunch and tiring of salad, we noticed a leftover hamburger sitting in the fridge. Before we knew it, our first cheeseburger bowl was born.

In this dish, rice brings the burger components together in a magnificent mishmash where familiar flavors integrate to create something straight out of taste memory.

We get that this re-imagined burger dish may sound silly or even weird. However, once you've plowed through one burger rice bowl (with either chopsticks or a fork, your choice), you'll be wondering where it's been all your life.

And, in a way, creating this unique burger and rice combo will give you a greater understanding of how to build flavors in any recipe.

Ingredients

Eating a burger in a bowl instead of on a bun is no sacrifice. You get satisfying protein from the beef, vegetal crunch plus sweet and sour flavors from the pickle and onion, sweet umami from the ketchup, fresh tomato flavor from (duh!) fresh tomatoes, pungency from the yellow mustard and rich salty depth from cheddar cheese.

You can call it deconstructed or even misconstructed. We call it lunch. It's as fun to make as it is to eat. Here's what you need to make it:

• 6 ounces 80/20 ground beef (ground beef must have at least 20% fat)
• 5 cups cooked rice (warm)
• 50 grams cheddar cheese (grated on the largest hole of a box grater)
• ½ red onion ( cut in 1/4 inch rings and pickled - see note below)
• ½ large plum tomato (diced)
• 1 pickle (sliced in 1/4 inch thick slices)
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)

Ground Beef

When cooking any burger, we recommend buying ground beef with at least 20% fat. If you, like us, live in place where American beef is difficult to find, you can have your butcher grind meat to your specifications.

You CAN use a premade burger patty but only if its of excellent quality. For ease, we like to mold and cook a single six-ounce patty in a cast iron pan. We then split the patty to feed two people. You can easily double the recipe to feed four but you'll need to make two patties. We cook the burger to medium for this rice bowl dish but you can cook it to your preference.

Pro Tip: Replace the ground beef with ground turkey or even a veggie burger if you're not a beef eater.

Rice

We love short grain Japanese rice. It's available at most Asian markets (and some better supermarkets) and it's worth a splurge. If you can find Koshihikari rice - buy it. It's the best quality Japonica rice available.

That being said, while it's not quite as good, you can also use everyday long grain white rice if that pleases you or if Japanese short grain rice isn't readily available where you live.

We choose to cook our rice in a rice cooker but you can also cook rice on a stove, following instructions on the rice box or bag. Generally, you'll use a stove ratio of 300 grams of rice to 375 grams of water.

If you use a rice cooker, like a Zojirushi, follow the machine instructions for Japanese rice. Once the rice is finished, run a fork or rice paddle through the rice to fluff it up and cool it down slightly.

Pro Tip: Season the rice with a generous pinch of sea salt. Despite what other recipes recommend, vinegar and kombu are not necessary in this recipe.

Grated Cheddar Cheese

Cheddar cheese is a classic burger topping whether the burger is inside a bun or on top of rice.

We like cheddar that's meltable and not aged. American slices or even (mon dieu!) Velveeta would work. You could even go highbrow and use gruyere or blue cheese.

Pro Tip: Grate the cheese from a block using the largest hole of a box grater.

Diced Tomato

The better tomatoes you buy, the better flavor you'll get. The best ones are available in the summer.

For this recipe, we dice a ripe tomato. Doing so makes the tomato easier to mix with the rice.

Pickled Red Onion

Pickling the onion takes the burn out of the onion and brings out its sweetness.

We slice a medium red onion onion in thin rings. We then pickle the rings by mixing them with about a quarter cup of cider vinegar and a half teaspoon of salt.

Pro Tip: Pickle the onion about a half hour in advance of making this recipe.

Dill Pickle

Nothing improves a burger like a quality dill pickle.

We buy our dill pickles in a jar and slice them about a quarter-inch thick.

Pro Tip: You can use relish instead.

Ketchup

Ketchup is a classic burger condiment that requires no explanation to what it brings to the table.

We, like most Americans, prefer Heinz ketchup when we eat hamburgers. It's also the brand we prefer in this burger bowl recipe.

Yellow Mustard

Yellow mustard provides an extra bite and pungency that makes the other ingredients come together.

Not everyone tops burgers with mustard. We can take it or leave it ourselves. However, after much experimentation, we've determined that yellow mustard completes the burger bowl.

Salt and Pepper

We season our burgers with generous amount of salt and ground pepper. You'll want to do the same.

Optional Ingredients

You can add your favorite hot sauce. You can add lettuce or even pineapple. You can add a fried egg. You can even add Asian condiments like oyster sauce or gochajang. If you like something on a burger, then you'll like it in this burger bowl.

How to Make a Burger Bowl with Rice

Assembling a burger bowl is easy and fun whether you're alone or with friends. We love eating it though we disagree about the best utensil for the dish. Daryl likes chopsticks while Mindi prefers using a fork.

The first step is to mold ground burger meat into a loose ball. Don't overpack the burger meat or else you'll create something closer to the texture of meatloaf or a sausage.

After you've created a ball, flatten the ball to create a burger patty.

We've found that flattening the burger in a 4-inch ring mold makes for an excellent shaped patty. You can lightly round out the corners of the patty if you wish. You can alternatively flatten the burger with your palm but the finished burger may not portion evenly.

After your patty is formed, create a small indentation in the center with your thumb. This will prevent your patty from turning into a ball. Season it generously with salt and pepper.

Heat up a pan, preferably cast iron, on high heat over a stove. Once it's ripping hot, pour in about a teaspoon of vegetable oil for lubrication.

Place your burger on the hot pan and cook it for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side until about medium to medium well (130°f / 55°c). You can also cook your burger medium rare (125°f / 51°c) or well (140°f / 60°c). It's up to you.

When the ground beef is cooked, remove the burger and loosely cover it with foil to keep it warm.

Fluff the cooked rice and remove from the rice cooker or stove. Lay it evenly in two bowls.

Slice the burger into four strips (two for each bowl).

Place the burger strips on top of the rice, leaving room for the other ingredients.

Place the remaining ingredients neatly next to the hamburger strips on each bed of rice.

Pro Tip:Place the cheese on top of the rice first if you want it to melt a little.

Once your burger rice bowl is arranged, serve it with chopsticks, a fork or even a spoon.

This recipe was originally published on 2foodtrippers. Consider subscribing to 2foodtrippers if you enjoyed it.