This is the anatomy of my perfect burger (which became known as the Lotus Burger)
The bun
It starts with a steamed bun. Like a McDonald’s steamed bun, the kind they use for their Filet-o-Fish. There’s an unwritten code that chefs have regarding McDonald’s. You go there, and you custom-order a burger using the best elements. Basically, we want to recreate a double cheeseburger with Big Mac sauce on a steamed bun with bacon, but better.
A crucial element of that burger is the steamed bun. A great burger should be squished, so that’s where we started. I like to steam a Tip Top bun.
Tomato ketchup
The only ketchup you should be using is Heinz. Burger purists would consider it to be sacrilege to use any other brand.
Pickles
These add acidity and texture. Store-bought ones are fine – look for big dill gherkins, slice them thinly and put them on top just before the bun goes on.
Bacon, chargrilled
I use a brand called Schulz, from South Australia. I like it because it’s not too salty and there’s a good amount of fat and smokiness to it. You want it to be streaky (belly) bacon.
Because the patty is grilled in a pan, rather than on a flame grill, the way you cook the bacon is the key element in getting that chargrilled flavour into the burger. You want it to develop a few grill marks, but not be too well done. Like the patty, it should be a bit juicy.
Cheese
Selection is crucial. American cheese is preferable – that bright yellow stuff that’s not really cheese – but a processed Australian cheddar also works well.
The patty
We knew we wanted to mince our own meat in house at Lotus. As with places like Shake Shack, Minetta Tavern and almost all great NYC burger joints, they have their own custom blend of beef cuts.
We played with nearly every combination and cut we could think of. It had to be juicy, so a lot of time went into experimenting with the meat-to-fat content. Patty experimentation started with a mixture of short rib, brisket and chuck, with regular beef fat. Then one day, our butcher heard what we were trying to do, and suggested we use the dry-aged beef fat he normally threw away as offcuts. We couldn’t believe they would throw away something so perfectly good, so we took it and used it.
After extensive testing, it comes down to this: 80 per cent beef, 20 per cent dry-aged beef fat. That’s it. No seasonings, flavours or binders, Worcestershire sauce, breadcrumbs, herbs, soy, nothing. To do so, would be to go down the track of creating another Australian institution: the rissole. In and of itself, that’s not a bad thing, but in a burger you’re heading down the wrong path.
Source: Dan Hong
As chefs, we’re taught to season at every stage of the cooking process, but it’s a different story with hamburgers. Salt draws out moisture and fat, so when you cook it, the proteins set really hard, which is not the way to create a really juicy patty.
We have American chef and respected mega molecular gastronomic geek Dave Arnold, founder of the Museum of Food and Drink, to thank for the realisation that salt is, in fact, the enemy in this recipe. The only time the beef sees salt is just before it hits the pan to be cooked.
Caramelised onions
These add a depth of flavour and sweetness. At the end of the caramelisation process, we add brown miso paste to the onions, which also ups the umami. I can’t remember whether I learned about this in Bon Appétit magazine or Food & Wine, but it just goes to show that reading anything and everything about cooking pays off – this tip is gold.
Japanese mayo
We like it because it has that certain level of umami that others don’t have (read: it contains MSG). Japanese mayo is also the perfect consistency for burgers. It’s creamy and it’s neither too solid nor too liquid. And most importantly, it’s not salad cream, which a lot of Australians mistakenly believe is mayo. It’s not.
Get your hands around Dan's Lotus burger, with the 
This is an edited extract from Mr Hong by Dan Hong. All images and recipes by Dan Hong , $49.99) available now. Read our review of his book
Lotus burger. Source: Dan Hong
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