Some hamburgers win first on the bread.

Original Hedgehog Chihuo Institute

Hamburg should be one of the most popular fast food in the world. Juicy, meaty and soft can be regarded as the basic standard of hamburger qualification.

This standard seems simple, but it is not so easy to achieve. Just a small hamburger embryo has many doorways.

01

Hamburger VS sandwich

/The distinction in China is not strict/

First of all, let’s distinguish between hamburgers and sandwiches. The main difference between them is the stuffing.

Traditional HamBurgers can be divided into hamburger and Burger：Hamburger only refers to hamburgers made of beef patties, while those made of other patties except beef are collectively called burger, without exception.

Strictly speaking, the ability to use patties is called hamburger | reserved photo.

Apart from patties, all other meats, fish, etc. (such as chicken legs, tuna, shrimps), no matter how much they look like hamburgers, are collectively called sandwiches. Perhaps this is why McDonald’s abroad doesn’t have a spicy chicken leg burger?

Mai spicy chicken leg burger is a favorite burger of many people in McDonald’s | Banana photo

However, in China, the distinction is not so strict, and hamburgers can also be "bread with everything". And if hamburgers want to be delicious, besides tender and juicy patties, hamburger embryos are also extremely important.

02

The emergence of hamburgers

/A foreign "snack legend"/

Josh Ozersky, a food writer, wrote in his book about hamburgers: "There is no doubt that no hamburger embryo means no hamburger, whether semantically or at any other level", which shows the importance of hamburger embryo.

Although there are similar "hamburgers" with bread and meat pies from time to time, it is said that it was not until 1916 that White Anderson, a chef from Kansas, invented a kind of bread with meat pies, and now the common hamburger embryos began to appear formally. This chef is also one of the partners of the later White Castle hamburger shop, and after the appearance of this shop, hamburgers began to be widely spread.

White Castle Burger Restaurant has a long history in the United States | Photo by the author

There is also White Castle in Shanghai, and the overall style is very American. Sauces and drinks are self-contained. Its hamburger is not round, the bottom of the bread is square, only the top is bulging, the texture is very soft, and the entrance is not dry. I quite like it. As for why hamburgers usually appear in a circular shape nowadays, I haven’t found the answer yet. Do any friends know?

This bread is soft and dry | Photo by the author

03

Common hamburger embryo

/You’ve eaten most of them/

Although hamburger embryos are just two small loaves of bread, different raw materials distinguish different hamburger embryos, so they have different tastes, advantages and disadvantages.

■ Basic Hamburg embryo (Plain Bun)

Basic bread embryo is the most common bread embryo in major hamburger chain stores and western restaurants, and the method is the simplest and most classic. Satisfied with softness, not soft collapse, and being able to properly absorb the sauce is a perfect basic hamburger embryo.

Basic Hamburg embryo | fujibakery.com.my

The basic bread embryo is directly called Bun in the United States and Bap in the United Kingdom. In addition to the different names, there are some differences in the production methods between the American version and the English version of hamburger blanks. The English version will add lard or butter to the hamburger blanks, while the American version will replace them with eggs or potato starch.

Of course, although it is basic, in the highly competitive hamburger world, different restaurants will have different secret recipes to make this basic hamburger embryo, such as using the changes of yeast fermentation to bring out different bread tastes and so on.

■ SesameSeed Bun

Sesame burger embryo was not the mainstream in the past. In the 1960s, the new york Times also commented that some restaurants used unusual and luxurious sesame burger embryo to upgrade their hamburgers.

By 1968, when McDonald’s promoted sesame burger embryo in TV advertisements, it began to be popular all over the country. Although McDonald’s still sells hamburgers with basic hamburger embryos, it has laid a tone: sesame hamburger embryos are a symbol of high-end hamburgers.

McDonald’s sesame burger embryo | reserved photo

In terms of taste, the sesame burger embryo is not different from the basic burger embryo except that it looks like there are more sesame seeds on the top. The sesame function on hamburger embryo is considered a mystery by many people, not for taste or seasoning. I guess, it’s probably for face value …

■ English Muffin

The full marks of McDonald’s breakfast come from English muffins, a common bread in Britain, while English muffins come from Germany (muffins, meaning "cupcakes").

English muffins are hard and dry, crunchy when bitten, which is very suitable for coffee and orange juice. On the basis of English muffins, whole wheat flour and corn flour are added to increase the chewiness, so wheat full marks are soft in texture, but very strong.

McDonald’s pig, willow, egg and wheat full marks | reserved photo

Except McDonald’s, all the breakfasts with Muffin in Hungry Jack’s are also made of this bread.

In addition to making hamburger embryos, English muffins are often paired with sweet ones, such as sauce and honey. Or salty, such as eggs, sausages, bacon, cheese and so on. Not only that, it is an important part of Benedict’s eggs and other sandwiches.

Benedict’s egg | reserved photo

■ Potato Roll

Unlike McDonald’s, KFC and other established burger chains, Shake Shack did not choose the basic or sesame style in the burger embryo, but chose the potato burger embryo.

Shake Shack has been using "Martin’s Potato Rolls" potato burger embryos since the first day it opened in Madison Square Garden, new york in 2004.

Shake Shack’s hamburger | reserved photo

Compared with the basic hamburger embryo, the potato hamburger embryo tastes more mixed, tastes whiter than bread, is very soft, and will not get wet while wrapping the meat pie to absorb gravy. Because mashed potatoes are added, the potato starch in the bread makes the bread embryo more elastic, which can keep fresh and moist even if it is left for a long time, and will not become fragile and dry like other hamburger embryos.

Mashed potato burger embryo is soft and elastic | reserved photo

But also because of this characteristic, potato burger embryo is relatively more suitable for thin burger.

Shake Shack’s single-story beef burger | reserved photo

■ Brioche Bun

Brio Hamburg embryo, also known as "Gourmet" Bread embryo, originated from France and was made of a large number of eggs and butter with golden and soft skin.

Burger King’s family used a burger with Brio bread | reserved photo

04

Other hamburger embryos

/How many kinds have you eaten? /

In addition to those common hamburger embryos, some restaurants or chain hamburger shops will also introduce some other types of bread hamburger embryos from time to time.

■ Ciabatta Bun

Italian hamburger embryo is actually Italian specialty bread Ciabatta, also called slipper bread.

The most basic Ciabatta consists of yeast, flour, olive oil and water. It is soft with big holes, crisp shell and soft inside, with strong olive oil flavor and strong wheat fragrance. Ciabatta has a great taste and flavor of bread, but as a hamburger embryo, it may be too hard for some people to bite.

Panini of KFC uses Ciabatta bread | reserved photo.

■ Kaiser roll

Caesar’s rolls are made of water, yeast, malt extract, salt and flour, with five pinwheels on the surface, which represent the crown, because it originated from the king of Germany.

Caesars rolls have a crisp shell and a moist inside without air holes, which is soft enough and thin enough as a hamburger embryo, but not heavy. However, bread is relatively easy to collapse and its taste is relatively simple.

Burgers made from Caesar rolls | seriouseats.com Joe Roy

■ Pretzel Bun with alkaline water.

Pretzel, a hamburger embryo, is baked only after passing through alkaline water, but it tastes strong and delicate, and its solid characteristics make it enough to hold patties of all thicknesses without worrying about overflowing juice. However, friends who don’t have a good mouth may think that this bread embryo is too hard to bite.

Hamburgers made with alkaline bread | mybizzykitchen.com

■ Onion Bun

The onion burger embryo is very similar to the basic version, which consists of a lot of eggs and oil, and onions from caramelization are added. If you are tired of eating the original hamburger embryo, this hamburger embryo full of onion flavor will be a very good choice.

Onion burger embryo with onion grains | 86eats.com

After reading so many hamburger embryos, have you figured out which one you like?

Original title: "Some hamburgers win first on bread! 》

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