One of the strangest requests I had when working as a chef was a client who wanted to have "hamba-gu". What was interesting about this request was that the client was the president of a Japanese seafood company. He was also entertaining a client that evening so while I would also be preparing many Japanese dishes to accompany the sashimi that the president would make, I had to cook a "hamba-gu".
I cooked the president a Western style hamburger and served it to him on a bun with all of the condiments. The president laughed as it was obviously a "lost in translation" moment. He said that he wanted a "hamba-gu" not a "hamba-ga-". The lightbulb went off and I realized that he wanted a yoshoku style hamburger, often eaten in Japan.
Luckily there was enough ground beef left and I quickly returned to the kitchen and mixed it with an egg, bread crumbs, and milk and cooked it up. The president was happy and I made a mental note to listen more carefully.
A hamba-gu to me is basically a mini meatloaf that is cooked in a pan and not baked in an oven. Finely mince some onions, add to ground beef with some bread crumbs, an egg, and some milk. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in a hot pan until cooked through. For a simple sauce add some Worcestershire sauce to some ketchup. Serve with hot rice.
