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The other day Mike and I went on a massively long walk. The sun was gorgeously bright, the sky was a brilliant winter blue and the air was crisp but not too cold. It was one of those rambling walks where we didn’t have a destination in mind – we were just walking, talking, and taking in Tokyo. Eventually we realized we were hungry and upon this epiphany, I realized that my feet were throbbing a little. It was definitely time for a snack and a drink or two.

We found a cute little cafe that had an early bird happy hour going on so I had a couple of deliciously freshly-squeezed grapefruit chūhais. If you haven’t had a chūhai before and you like light fizzy drinks, you’ll LOVE chūhais. I’m obsessed with shochu highballs! Have you had them? They go down really easily, but like most deliciously light drinks, if you’re not careful, you’ll drink entirely too many and end up very, very drunk at a laughably early time of day. True story.

Afterwards, our inebriated selves (okay, my inebriated self) decided we HAD to go shopping so I dragged Mike to the dollar store. “Dollar store?” you might be thinking. Yes, the dollar store (it’s actually a 100 yen store). Dollar stores are amazing in Japan. I can’t get over how many amazing things they can sell for a dollar. The majority of the items are quality made in Japan products. I’m talking about awesome kitchen goods like ceramic ginger graters and customizable alphabet cookie stamps. I’m a true dollar store fanatic and that’s when I’m sober. Imagine how I am in a dollar store with my inhibitions lowered.

Let’s just say I came away from that whole experience 12 mini-mini ramekins richer. After I sobered up I said to Mike, “why the heck did I end up buying a DOZEN tiny ramekins? Who can these even feed? They aren’t even big enough for ants!” His adorable answer was that the ramekins seemed to make me really happy. Also apparently I wouldn’t let go of them and told him many many recipes I could use them for. If only I could remember them now…

What I did end up doing, while I was slightly intoxicated, was come up with this burger. I wanted a burger, I wanted grilled cheese and I wanted an egg on top of it all. Behold, the ultimate hangover brunch: a medium cooked egg with a still slightly gooey yolk inside a burnished burger patty on top of frico style grilled cheese buns. Seriously heaven. Bonus: My feet felt great after I bought the ramekins.

Egg in a Hole Grilled Cheese Breakfast Burger Recipe
makes 1, scale as needed

• 1/3 pound ground chuck
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 medium egg
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese of choice
• 1 burger bun, sliced in half
• burger toppings, as desired

Start off by shaping the ground chuck into a patty, being sure to pack it together fairly tightly. Season both sides of the burger generously. Take a small glass and cut a hole out of the middle of the burger. Break the egg into a ramekin and set aside.

Preheat a heavy cast iron skillet over medium high heat and add the burger patty with the hole cut out. Cook until browned and crisp on one side, 1-3 minutes.

While the burger is cooking, start to frico grill cheese your buns. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese in the rough shape of your burger bun. Add the bun on top and grill on medium-low until the cheese is crispy and golden. At this point, you should check on your burger.

Check using a spatula and when brown, carefully flip the burger. Pour the egg into the hole – if it looks like the egg while will overflow, hold it back and reserve for another use. Cook on medium-low, covered (use a glass lid if you have one so you can see) until the egg is done to your liking. While the egg is cooking, frico grill cheese the other side of the bun.

When the burger and egg are done, season with salt and pepper and place on top of your grilled cheese buns. Top with any toppings desired and enjoy! I kept mine plain and simple with ketchup for dipping.

Don’t forget to fry up the tiny burger to eat as well!

Notes:If you really are planning to be hung over, it might be helpful to have a designated brunch maker. Or you could pre-prep your burger patties and even your eggs. Trust me, your hung over self will thank you for taking care of business the night before. It’s not so easy to elegantly break eggs into tiny burger holes when you’re hungover and all you want to do is stuff food into your mouth. Just shape the burgers, wrap them in plastic. Don’t forget to crack the eggs in to small bowls too!

burgercheeseeggsfricohangover food