#89 Japanese Seared Beef

Yup. The picture shows an accurate image of how Japanese Seared Beef is served. R-A-W in the middle. You sear the outer part of the meat, which kills the harmful bacteria, and then once browned, you have to immediately plunge the seared meat into cold water to stop the cooking. I have to be honest with all of you, I did have second thoughts about eating it, because I've never, ever eaten raw beef in my entire life...so I got a little bit scared, at the same time was very very curious about how it would taste like. I thought, oh well, if they say it is safe to eat, then it is. After several minutes of staring at it, I ate the daikon first, then the cucumbers then dipped the meat in the ponzu sauce for several minutes, :) then started eating one slice at a time. It wasn't bad tasting, infact it was very flavorful and juicy. While eating it very slowly, I started thinking about my usual medium rare to medium meats. It was just way to rare for me. It was great to try it, the meat is so tender, the ponzu sauce was delicious, and some say meat cooked rare are loaded with super protein.  I didn't get sick after 48 hours of eating it, but I didn't feed it to anybody else- was too paranoid! Will I make it again because it tasted great? Let's just say that, I will think hard about it. :)

Yield: 4 servings

JAPANESE SEARED BEEF


Ingredients:

1 cup finely shredded daikon
400 g beef eye fillet
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 cucumber, halved lengthways

Directions:

1. Place daikon in medium bowl, cover with cold water, stand 15 minutes, drain.
2. Brush beef with oil and cook on heated oiled grill plate (or grill or barbecue) until browned all over. 
3. Allow to cool or plunge into cold water to stop cooking immediately. Drain and pat dry with absorbent paper.
4. Remove and discard seeds from cucumber; slice thinly. Cut beef into thin slices and arrange on a plate with mounds of daikon and cucumber. Serve with Ponzu sauce, recipe follows.

PONZU SAUCE


Ingredients:

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup japanese soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Combine juice, sauce and water in a small bowl; sprinkle with onion. 

Recipe adapted from Australian Women's Weekly Magazine.

Daikon, mooli, or white radish often associated in Japan, was originally cultivated in continental Asia. There are many variations of daikon, but the one that is widely consumed in Japan is the aokubi-daikon which has the shape of a giant carrot. In Japanese cuisine, it is made into pickles, simmered, grated and mixed in sauces such as Ponzu, even dried and preserved. It's sprouts are used as garnishing or eaten as a salad. The leaves, called suzushiro are edible, used in stir fries and pickling. Every year, on January 7th, the daikon leaves are included in the customary eating of "seven-herb rice porridge"  when the Festival of Seven Herbs, or also known as Nanakusa no sekku is celebrated.