Sake Steak

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 9 July 2007 in Food & Cuisine and Portfolio.

I'm so pleased with the way my steak turned out tonight. Actually, I've never been able to get this kind of medium rare tone - but yay! I finally did! This sake steak recipe was from, of all people, Nigella Lawson. It calls for marinating the steak in 1ts English mustard, 2tb worcestershire sauce, 1tb soya sauce and 1tb garlic oil. I didn't have garlic oil, so I used something infinitely better - truffle oil. But I suppose if truffle oil is not on hand, finely chopped garlic would be a suitable alternative to garlic oil. The steaks were marinated in a ziplock bag for 1 day, then returned to room temperature before being cooked. Using a bit of oil, I heated my cast iron pan on low heat for a couple of minutes before searing the steak on both sides for 2 minutes per side. Then, and this is a great idea from Nigella, the steaks were removed from heat and double-wrapped tightly in aluminium foil parcels for 10 minutes. During this time, I made up the steak sauce quickly, bring 60ml of sake to boiling point in a small pot, then removing from the heat and adding 1tb soya, 1/2 ts fish sauce, 1ts worcestershire sauce and 1/2 ts English mustard.

I was amazed at how tender the beef was - must be due to all that double-wrapping-in-foil action. And the truffle oil, though not called for in the original recipe, really added a full-bodied flavour to the meat. I love truffle oil. Pity it is so expensive - but a few drops can make so much difference!

The other great thing about this recipe is how fast it is to get good food on the table. Marination can be done 1 day before. And when you're ready to cook, it just takes 2+2 minutes on the stovetop + 10minutes of "sitting" in foil, during which time, you can make up the sauce. We served this lovely steak cut up into slices & over rice. I accompanied it with a grape & lettuce salad.

Oh, and the steaks were rib-eye.

Yums!