Yet another hamburg joint in Japan has gone viral for undercooking its meat. On the plus side, no one ended up in the hospital this time!
The restaurant in question is Burg (バーグ) in Kichijoji, which specializes in hamburg steaks – a traditional form of yoshoku (Western food) served on a sizzling hot pan. While usually served with a demiglace sauce on top, Burg uses a cheese sauce for their creations.
Japanese TikTok food influencer kogi_jp_gourmet spotlighted the restaurant in a video posted on December 5th. In one scene, the influencer cuts into the steak to reveal it’s mostly raw on the inside – a form of hamburg preparation called “drinkable hamburg” (飲めるハンバーグ; nomeru hamba-gu).
“Drinkable hamburg” has been popular in Japan for several years. Restaurants that defend the practice say that customers are supposed to finish cooking the raw-ish portion on the hot plates on which the meal is served.
However, that pushes responsibility for avoiding a food-borne illness onto the customer. This strategy went horribly wrong back in September, when meat infected with E. coli O157 at a restaurant in Chiba Prefecture sent 34 people to the hospital. Experts at that time said that the heat of a hot plate is insufficient to kill bacteria such as E. coli.
kogi_jp_gourmet’s drew harsh responses from users as it circulated on both TikTok and on X.
“That’s overly rare, no way,” one poster wrote. “You can’t cook that thoroughly on the hot plate.” The X post in question now has a Community Note warning about the dangers of E. coli.
The store owner has since apologized for serving undercooked meat. They say they’ll cook their hamburg steaks more thoroughly going forward.
The Tama-Fuchuu Division of the Tokyo Health Department, which governs the store’s area, wouldn’t comment on this individual case. Instead, the Department made a general comment about the dangers of undercooking ground beef. Unlike a steak, the entire area of ground beef is susceptible to contamination, which requires cooking it thoroughly to destroy dangerous bacteria.
While most posters online are calling for hamburg places to properly cook their food, others are defending the “drinkable hamburg” practice, saying it’s safe if the store takes proper safety precautions in handling raw meat.
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Sources
人気店のハンバーグ「生焼け」動画が波紋 食中毒リスクも指摘、店主「客に焼いてもらう方法は止めます」. JCast
kogi_jp_gourmet video on December 5th. TikTok
