Some in Japan like their meat tender. Maybe a little too tender. A trend related to one of the country’s most famous yoshoku (洋食; Western-style) dishes went wrong at one restaurant – and 34 people paid for it.
Why eat your food when you can drink it?
The dish in question is the famous Japanese hamburg (ハンバーグ; hambaagu). Unlike a burger (バーガー in Japanese), a hamburg is more like a hamburger steak, served as is with toppings – usually a demiglace sauce or grated daikon.
A Japanese hamburg consists of ground meat, onions, bread crumbs, egg, and a little milk and seasonings mixed together. You then sear each side and cook it to serving temperature – either by steaming it with water on a stovetop or baking it in an oven. This brings the hamburg up to a safe serving temperature (160F; 71C) while still retaining a light, moist interior.
You can get Japanese hamburg at family restaurants in Japan or dedicated Japanese hamburg chains like Bikkuri Donkey. Restaurants typically serve the dish on a hot, sizzling plate – sometimes even with a splatter guard to prevent mess. This lends an additional air of theatrics to the presentation. It also adds additional cooking time to the hamburg.
However, some restaurants in Japan are serving a version that’s medium rare or even close to rare. The so-called “drinkable hamburg” has proven a hit among customers who like to hit it raw.
Insufficient heat fails to kill E. coli
The progenitor of the “drinkable hamburg” appears to be the subject of today’s story. Shoutaian Diner in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, has sold its drinkable Japanese hamburg with A5 rank Kuroge Wagyu ground beef since 2019. An old TBS news report says that, at the 2019 Meat Festival, the store sold 30,000 of the hamburgs in 10 days.
Up until now, the store hasn’t had an incident. However, customers who ate at the diner between August 24th and August 28th, 2024, reported symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Funabashi’s Health Department says the culprit is Enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157. The agency says it suspects the infection happened sometime during delivery of the meat. Killing enterohemorrhagic E. coli requires heating meat up to a temperature of 75C – 167F, or past well done – to kill it.
One infected customer has reportedly developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome, anemia caused by the destruction of red blood cells. The disease usually only occurs in children…or in people who’ve been infected with O157.
Customers who’ve been to Shoutaian Diner to have the drinkable hamburg say that the restaurant advises using the hot plate to cook the undercooked interior. Staff tell consumers to cook the redness out of the meat prior to consuming.
Is Japanese hamburg safe?
Japan’s food supply chain generally has a strong reputation for excellent food safety. For example, raw eggs are a component of multiple dishes here – a feat made possible by strict regulations that prevent both on-shell and in-shell salmonella.
There are, of course, exceptions. One of the most notable was a restaurant in Ishikawa Prefecture that poisoned 93 people with nagashi somen noodles. Nagashi somen is typically served via a long, flowing bamboo shoot in running river water. In this case, the store used a source infected with campylobacter bacteria.
However, in general, restaurants in Japan feel a responsibility to…well, not poison their customers. Additionally, the reputational blowback from an incident such as this can be severe enough to shut a place down.
Other Japanese hamburg chains say: Don’t worry, we cook our food
Ground beef is tricky because it’s hard to serve safely at anything less than well done. Serving steaks medium rare is generally fine because the interior is never exposed. However, the grinding and handling of ground beef at a butcher’s or factory makes it more susceptible to an E. coli or salmonella infection.
Other Japanese hamburg chains interviewed in the wake of this story say they always cook their hamburg to well done. This usually involves cooking for four minutes on a hot plate, then transferring to an oven for 12 minutes.
The chain owners also emphasized that they feel an extra responsibility to ensure food safety given that the risk of spoilage is higher thanks to Japan’s extended summer heat. In other words, you probably shouldn’t worry about enjoying a Japanese hamburg on your stay here.
Even Shoutaian Diner appears to have taken that advice to heart. The store re-opened for business on September 9th, promising it’s implemented preventative measures. A customer who ordered the “drinkable hamburg” said it appeared thoroughly cooked and “not drinkable at all.”
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Sources
「飲めるハンバーグ」でO157食中毒34人発症…客が“追い焼き”するスタイルで加熱不十分か 暑い時期の調理は特に要注意! FNN Prime Online
「肉フェス常連」新触感「飲めるハンバーグ」が大人気！そのヒミツとは？TBS News Dig
Why eating a rare burger is more dangerous than eating a rare steak. TODAY
「飲めるハンバーグ」食中毒 患者１人がＨＵＳを発症、入院中 船橋. Chiba Nippou
