Teriyaki Burgers and a Sweet Potato Bun Tease

Your classic teriyaki burger is usually nothing more than a plain patty, which has been glazed in teriyaki sauce; and by �teriyaki sauce,� I mean a thick, one-dimensional syrup made from sugar, soy, and MSG. If you�re enjoying your third pint at a sports bar, these work out just fine, but good luck adapting them for your next cookout.

Here we�re using a different, drier approach, and adding the key teriyaki flavorings to the ground meat. This gives us a burger or slider with the taste of teriyaki, without having to deal with a sauce. This recipe should work no matter the cooking method, although a medium-hot charcoal grill would be my preference, weather permitting.

No matter how you grill these, I highly recommend they end up on a homemade sweet potato slider bun. Besides another way to tweak the humble hamburger, this clip was intended to be a sneak preview for some rather amazing buns. We�ll post that sometime Monday, just in case you want to add it to your 4th of July menu. So stay tuned, and as always, enjoy!

Ingredients for four (4-oz) burgers:

1 pound ground beef (85/15 lean to fat ratio)

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sake

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tsp sriracha, or other hot sauce to taste

2 tsp brown sugar