Rice Beef Burger with Kimchi and Wasabi-Mustard Mayo

Rinse the rice once, drain, and top with the water. Place on high heat and bring to a boil with the salt.
1 kg sushi rice, 1.25 L water, 2 tsp salt
When the water is boiling, lower the heat right down, cover and cook for 15 minutes. At the end of the 15 minutes, take it off the heat, and leave to cool completely, or until it's cool enough to handle. Cook the rice hours earlier or even the day before, for the easiest option.
If you don't have much time, tip the hot rice onto a large tray, spread it out and leave to cool, tossing it a couple of times, so all the rice has a chance to air and cool.
Add the sugar to the vinegar, stir to dissolve and leave aside until needed. In the meantime, attend to the beef patties.
½ tsp white sugar, 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
When the rice is cool enough, add the vinegar mix, and mix it all in thoroughly.
Add 1 Tbsp of the togarashi, and mix it all in. You can increase or decrease this, it's up to you. The togarashi is a bit spicy.
Shichimi Togarashi as needed
Divide the rice into 8 balls.
Form 8 burger buns with these rice balls, either with your hands, or using the burger press. If not frying, leave them aside, uncovered, so they dry up slightly and firm up. If you are leaving them for longer than 30 minutes, cover with clingfilm.

Heat a large frying pan on medium heat. Depending on the size of the pan, fry your rice buns in 2, 3 or 4 at a time.
Brush one side of the the rice buns with a little sesame oil and fry in the pan for 3 minutes. Brush the other side before flipping over and doing the same. Set aside until assembly.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and massage the beef for 30 full seconds, to incorporate all the ingredients and to loosen the mince.
500 g minced beef, 1 medium onion, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp fine salt
Form into 4 patties, either with your hands or with a burger press. Place on a tray, cover lightly with foil or clingfilm, and place in the fridge for 30 minutes or until you are ready to cook them.
Wash the burger press, dry and set aside, if you are using one and plan to use it for the rice buns too. If your rice is cool, attend to the rice buns now, while the patties are chilling. You can also cut your vegetables and get all the garnishes and sides ready.

Heat a frying pan on high heat for 1 minute. Brush the beef patties with oil on both sides and place in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the beef patties for 2-3 minutes on each side, pressing down with your spatula, to make sure that the whole patty surface comes in contact with the pan. How long you cook it for depends on how you like your meat cooked: medium or well done.
Cook all the beef burgers, you may have to do it in batches, depending on the size of your frying pan.

Start with some lettuce on the lower rice bun.
Top with a beef pattie.
Follow with the wasabi-mustard mayo, then the kimchi. Use as much or as little as you like.
Kimchi as needed, ½ cup mayonnaise, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp wasabi powder
You can either top the burger with the rest of the vegetables, or place them on the side of the plate for easier eating.
2 handfuls salad leaves, some slices of cucumber, onion slices, 2 medium salad tomatoes
Serve with any other toppings, garnishes and sauces you fancy.
Sriracha or other chilli sauce, Cheese