Umami is an obnoxious phrase in that people act like no one ever thought of "savoriness" before but I guess it does better acknowledge the place of glutamate but...I digress.
Standard burger:
1 lb ground beef (of your choice, I hardly pay attention, for some reason)
1/2 medium onion (per four ~1/4 lb burgers)
1 medium-small garlic clove
Enormous tsp stoneground dijon
1/4 tsp creamy horseradish
Optional: blue cheese (chunks)
Mince onions and garlic, sweat on low for ten minutes or so. Mix all of the above into ground beef & season with S&P, any herbage you might want though they're pretty unnecessary.
If there's too much onion (posh) or it gets a bit too warm the meat may get loose, I suggest pattying up and refrigerating for a few minutes.
Fry dem burgers (medium-high) up to your desire doneness (which should be mediumish), preferably in just a bit of bacon fat (cause, c'mon it's bacon fat).
Umami bomb sauce:
Big ol' shallot
Small garlic clove (or ignore, there's plenty of alliummyness in the shallot)
Four-five baby portobello mushrooms
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Dark ale and or beef broth
Finely mince shallot/garlic and sweat in burger grease on medium-low for a few minutes. Chop mushrooms a tick under a cm square or so and add to the pan , sweat another two minutes or so.
Just a bit of wondra, maybe half a teaspoon very evenly sprinkled, mix and splash some soy & worcestershire sauce, just to coat well (three tsp?). Let cook down another minute & add a bit more wondra.
Add ~1 tbsp ale and ~2 tbsp beef broth, mix thoroughly and cook down an additional three minutes or so.
Good option: (if not using a teflon pan) mash some cooked shroomies with a fork and mix about.
If made ahead of time I like to drop a fat tbsp of bomb sauce on top of the burger after flipping and lay some cheddar over top. Drop the heat to medium-low/low and cover with a pot lid until meltifantastic and burgers are done).
Slide onto a toasted bun with a thin veneer of mayo on the bottom bun and consume with delight.
