miso-marinated beef salad

I'm marking this as an entree rather than a salad, as both times i've made it i've served it as the primary or meat course. It's a lovely balance - the slight bitterness of the greens plays perfectly against the sweet/spicy dressing, and the beef is just plain fantastic, with the carmelized mirin and miso crust. The pic to the right is the plating i used for tonight's dinner. I used this with a fancier plating for the 2001 NYF meat course.

The recipe is taken from Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani's Terra, a fantastic example of a high-gloss vanity restaurant cookbook that actually delivers delicous, accessible recipes. I'd highly recommend it - more than half the dishes from NYF 2001 were inspired by this book. I have a date with Beca to someday (someday!) take a day trip to Napa and try eating the originals.

Serves 4.

Miso Marinade & Steak
1 tbsp red miso paste
2 tbsp plus 1.5 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp grated and peeled fresh ginger
1/4 tsp grated garlic
1 tbsp Asian sesame oil
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin

1 12-oz New York steak, trimmed of fat and silverskin.

Whisk together all of the ingredients. Add the steak, cover & marinate for at least an hour, but up to 24. (I usually do this inside a ziplock, and sit the ziplock inside a 9x9 cake pan.)

Ginger-Mustard Vinaigrette
1 1/2 tsp peeled and chopped ginger
1/4 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
1.5 tsp Asian sesame oil
pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp corn oil (i use olive when i don't have corn.)
2.5 tsp Dijon mustard

Purée all ingredients in a blender for 1 minute. Strain and set aside.

Vegetable Salad
1 Japanese cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut on the diagonal into 1/8 inch thick slices about 2 inches long.
1/2 carrot, peeled, halved lengthwise on the diagonal to the same size as the cuke.
2 tbsp thinly sliced red onion
a handful of haricot verts (or some blue-lake beans!) stemmed & blanched
1 tbsp crushed red peanuts
a bunch of weeds & fronds (mesclun or other small-leaf lettuce mix)

To finish the dish:
Remove the steak from the marinade. Grill the steak for 1-2 minutes per side on a grille or in a grill pan. Broiling would work in a pinch, too. Grill it longer if you like it more cooked, less if you like it still bleeding. Cut the steak into strips.

Toss the weeds & fronds with the vinaigrette. Toss the beans and carrots in a bit of the vinaigrette.

Plate some salad, some veggies, and the steak in the middle.

Fancy Elements
Fried Rice Noodles
Heat 3 inches of oil in a large saucepan to 350F. Add a few rice noodles at a time, and watch them puff. Remove them while they're still white, after about 30 seconds. Remove the noodles to some paper towels. (This is a lot like watching shrimp chips puff, but they curl, too! Lots of fun.)

Radicchio bowls
Acquire 8 large radicchio leaves. Fit two together into a bowl.

Plate It!
Place a radicchio bowl in the middle of a plate. Divide your weeds and fronds into the bowl. Layer the vegetable salad on top of the greens. Layer the steak on top; garnish with a few fried rice noodles, a sprig of cilantro, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Posted by shock on February 09, 2003 | TrackBack