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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Japanese Raw Beef

I have been meaning to post this for a while but never got round to it. A friend works in a Japanese restaurant and I commented to him how I loved their raw beef and that it tasted so good. However, it was so expensive for a tiny bowl and I wished I could make it at home. Well he told me that the secret was all in the sauce, and its extremely easy to make.

Soy Sauce For Japanese Raw Beef
* 1 part soy sauce
* 1 part white vinegar
* a few cloves of peeled garlic

All you do is mix equal parts of regular soy sauce (I used Kikkoman brand) and white vinegar (I used the one with the little girl skipping rope on the bottle) and throw in a few cloves of peeled garlic. Let the mixture mix for at least 24 hours. Then you're ready to use your sauce.

Preparing The Beef
* Use a good cut of beef, such as Porterhouse. Put a pan on high heat with a bit of oil. Brown all sides of the beef quickly and take off and let it cool. Cut the beef into thin strips.

Serving The Beef
* Place a bed of finely sliced white onions on a plate. Layer the beef over it and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Just before you are about to eat it, break a raw egg onto the beef and mix thoroughly. Pour the soy sauce mixture over the whole thing. Grab a mixture of the onions and beef covered in egg and soy sauce and eat all at once. I find you really need to eat the whole mixture to get a variety of flavours swimming around in your mouth. I love the taste of the fresh beef and the smooth texture with the egg followed by the slightly tangy sauce.

Cleanliness is vital in preparing this dish as you are eating raw food, especially the egg. Make sure your utensils, knives, cutting board are all properly cleaned before you use them. Apart from that, enjoy the delicious flavours of the raw beef.

4 comments:

  1. I was right with you.. up till the raw egg. Nah, can't do it.

    I was reading your blog because I accidentally found that the meat I was marinating (ginger, soy, garlic, sesame oil) for a stir fry tasted better raw than cooked and wondered what other raw beef recipes I could find.

    You've inspired me now, so I'll be trying the vinegar one next.. but I think I'll have to work up to the eggy bit!

    vr0n

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  2. Hi Vr0n, isn't it great when you accidentally stumble onto something great? The raw beef still tastes amazing without the egg, but I find the egg gives the beef this silky smooth feeling which makes it even better. In fact, if you can fint it, a quail egg is even nicer.

    You might also want to try this raw beef recipe. It's from Movida, a highly acclaimed restaurant in Melbourne. Happy experimentation. Let me know what you think.

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  3. I had this today and was quite nice.

    Thanh - Do yo know the nutritional facts at all about it? I wonder how do it is for you..?

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  4. im going to try a fresh crushed chilli in the sauce mix, and i cant go the egg either :P

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