Our cookbook of the week is Bread is Gold by three Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura. Over the next four days, we’ll feature recipes from the book and an interview with its author.

To try another recipe from the book, check out: baked pasta alla parmigiana.

Yoshihiro Narisawa’s teriyaki hamburgers went over extremely well at Refettorio Ambrosiano during Milan’s Expo 2015. Everyone wanted the recipe for his teriyaki sauce, Massimo Bottura says.

“That is when I began to think about writing a cookbook,” he writes in Bread is Gold. “Recipes are often the best storytellers.”

The acclaimed Japanese chef owns the two-Michelin star Narisawa in Tokyo, Japan. His award-winning sustainability initiatives made him a natural fit with Bottura’s goal with the refettorio – to highlight the global issue of food waste and fight hunger.

“More than 90 per cent of ingredients are delivered directly from the producers. I never ask for specific items. The producers send the products that are the freshest,” Narisawa explains of his restaurant’s practices in Bread is Gold. “The producers are very small, so this is one way of reducing waste for them, too.”

TERIYAKI HAMBURGERS

Serves: 6

Hamburgers:
Generous 1 cup (150 g) dried breadcrumbs
10 oz (300 g) ground (minced) beef
3 ½ oz (100 g) lard
½ cup (120 mL) milk
1 small onion, chopped
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil

Teriyaki Sauce:
2 tbsp (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
2 red bell peppers, sliced
7 oz (200 g) mushrooms, quartered
1 1/3 cups (320 mL) white wine
Generous 2/3 cup (160 mL) soy sauce
½ cup plus 2 tbsp (130 g) granulated sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch, sifted

Step 1

Make the Hamburgers: In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, beef, lard, milk, onions, eggs, salt, nutmeg, and pepper and mix by hand until well incorporated. Form 6 patties. In a medium frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the patties and cook until lightly browned on both sides, about 8 minutes.

Step 2

Make the Teriyaki Sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the red peppers and sauté until soft, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the mushrooms to the pan and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Add to the red peppers.

Step 3

In a medium pot, bring the white wine to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes. Add the soy sauce and sugar and mix well. Remove a small amount of the liquid and transfer to a small bowl. Add the cornstarch and stir to dissolve. Return to the pot, stirring constantly until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Return the peppers and mushrooms to the pan.

Step 4

To serve: Place a hamburger patty on each plate and cover with the teriyaki sauce.

Adapted from Bread is Gold by Massimo Bottura (Phaidon, $54.95, November 2017).