Recreating moon-viewing burgers myself! It was fantastic to eat them while moon viewing on the balcony

Aside from the long rains, there were also autumn-like days, so I decided to try moon viewing on my balcony. The moon-viewing burger made with just a frying pan, along with moon-viewing eggs substituted with onions. Eating on the balcony while feeling the autumn breeze, I was able to really enjoy the current season.

It has become cooler, so I want to enjoy moon viewing during the breaks in the rain

In 2026, the Mid-Autumn Moon is said to fall on September 25. During this time, convenience stores and fast food chains simultaneously lineup seasonal menus called "moon viewing." Every time I see it in TV commercials or on social media, I think, "This season has come again this year," but on the other hand, actually going out to eat can feel like a hassle. I feel like I’ve had years where I’ve just kind of overlooked seasonal customs due to the busyness of daily life.

This year, I suddenly thought, why not stay at home and make my own while enjoying it on the balcony? If it's on the balcony at home, I can go out with ease. Of course, a dish suitable for such a "moon viewing spot" is a moon viewing burger. From that light idea, I decided to try moon viewing on the balcony this year.

I realized that I can just use ingredients available at the supermarket

The ingredients I prepared were all easily found at any supermarket: ground meat, eggs, bacon, and buns. I was determined to complete the meal using just one frying pan, without any special tools.

The seasoning for the patty is just salt and pepper. Normally, I would mix in minced onions and breadcrumbs, but this time I intentionally kept it simple because it's a hassle. I also judged that the saltiness from the sauce and bacon that I would add later would be sufficient.

The biggest challenge was how to fry the egg into a nice round shape, resembling the moon. I think chain restaurants use a special round egg ring for their moon-view burgers, but of course, I don’t have anything like that at home. I even considered just frying a regular sunny-side-up egg, but then it wouldn’t retain its shape and wouldn’t look like a "moon."

So, I tried frying the egg in an onion ring...

and surprisingly, it turned out quite well. Using sliced onions as a mold produced a surprisingly nice round shape. All I had to do was place the onion ring in the frying pan and drop the egg inside, so there was absolutely no waste.

The runny yolk peeking out looks quite "moon-like." Honestly, I didn't expect to be able to make something that resembles it so easily with what I already had at home. It was a little gain this time to shift my thinking to see if I could make do with what I currently have before buying anything extra.

The sauce is a tomato creamy sauce made by mixing mayonnaise, ketchup, and sugar. It's just as easy as mixing them in a small dish, but by adding this, I felt like I was getting much closer to a familiar taste.

So, with the patty, bacon, fried egg, and sauce sandwiched in the buns, it was completed. The volume ended up being such that some sauce oozed out from the cross-section, making for a visually satisfying moon-viewing burger.

I went out to the balcony to try it! And I realized...

Holding the finished burger, I stepped out onto the balcony and took a bite while looking up at the moon. The balance of flavors was better than I expected, but even more impressive was that it was surprisingly enjoyable to eat a meal on the balcony, a place I usually just pass by.

Feeling the cool autumn breeze on my cheeks while the moon above gradually changed shape made even a dish made with the same ingredients feel completely different.

To be honest, I had hardly ever eaten something I made at home outside. I might have unconsciously thought that dinner is something you eat at the dining table.

Without any special preparations or traveling far, just changing the location a little allows me to enjoy seasonal events in my own way. It was lucky to discover that there are ways to savor these events without going out to eat or traveling.

In the first place, the Mid-Autumn Moon, also known as Juugoya, is a long-standing tradition in Japan to appreciate the moon in gratitude for the harvest. While the image of a "moon-viewing menu" tends to take precedence, at its core, there should be a more simple way of spending time looking up at the night sky, expressing gratitude for the seasonal bounty.

Although the form is different, the modern way of looking up at the moon with a burger in hand might fulfill that meaning in the sense of pausing to admire the sky during seasonal transitions.

Next year, I will celebrate the full moon with just a frying pan

No special tools are needed; you can make a moon-viewing burger with just a frying pan. With a slight twist using sliced onions, I realized that I can reproduce the flavor of a chain restaurant at home. And above all, I discovered that simply having a meal while looking up at the moon from the familiar place of my balcony turns into a special time different from usual.

Without the need for elaborate preparations, seasonal events can surprisingly be enjoyed quite nearby. This year's full moon became a night filled with such realizations.

Interview and text by SYURI

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