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