The perfect Japanese-style roast beef

If you’re like me and find slightly rare roast beef irresistible, this recipe is for you! It is pretty much fool proof and the flavors are Japanese-style or wafuu (和風) featuring a blend of sake, soy sauce, mirin, and topped with green onions, grated ginger, and a squeeze of lemon! It is the perfect appetizer or main dish to eat with rice. The key to this recipe is a meat thermometer and hopefully you have one lying around somewhere after cooking Thanksgiving turkey! If not, I highly recommend getting one because it removes all of the guess work to achieving the doneness that you desire.  

Yields: 1 kg of roast beef

Ingredients:

🧂1kg of beef tenderloin 

🧂2 tablespoons salt 

🧂2 tablespoons pepper 

🧂1 tablespoon of cooking oil 

🧂50 ml sake

🧂50 ml soy sauce 

🧂1 tablespoon of mirin 

For garnish:

🧂chopped green onions (I used about 2 stalks)

🧂grated ginger (about a 2 cm piece would work)

🧂1/4-1/2 of a lemon to squeeze on top

note: If some ingredients are unusual scroll to the bottom for more info

Instructions:

1. Cut off all of the extra fat on the outside of the block of meat.

2. cut the meat into long blocks aiming for blocks which are about 20 cm wide and 10 cm high. In my case my block of meat worked well when cut in half into two blocks. 

3. lightly salt and pepper the outside of the meat. 

3. mix sake, soy sauce, and mirin in a small bowl and set aside. 

4. heat a frying pan on medium high heat and add oil. Once heated add both blocks of meat to the frying pan. Sear each side until there are no red or pink areas on the outside of the meat. Note: I recommend doing this by using tongs and to flip the meat on each side until the entire outer part of the meat is cooked. 

5. add the sake, soy sauce, mirin mix and cover the frying pan. Reduce heat to a low heat setting and leave for 10 minutes, flipping the meat around the 5 minute mark.

6. Check the thickest part of the meat with a meat thermometer. The ideal temperature in my opinion is around 55 degrees celsius but you can do more or less depending on your preference. If it is not done yet, cover and keep checking every 5 minutes, making sure to flip the meat each time. In my case, it took an extra 5-10 minutes. 

7. Once it is done, set aside on a plate. Cut it once it is cool enough to handle. I recommend relatively thin slices but it depends on your preference. Make sure to save the liquid left in the frying pan into a bowl to top the meat later.

8. Garnish with green onions, ginger, and sprinkle lemon juice. Top with the sauce from the frying pan! 

Enjoy! 

Curious about the ingredients and equipment in this recipe?

note: contains affiliate links

Here is a list of items that may be unusual or you may be curious about. Just shoot me a message if you want to know more!

Meat Thermometer

These kinds of thermometers are super useful! It makes sure that meats are cooked to the right temperature and also useful for frying tempura when the oil should be at a specific temperature.

Mirin

Mirin is a sweet rice wine with a low alcohol content.  It is similar to sake but with much more sugar and is one of the key components to Japanese cooking. For example: a simple and delicious teriyaki marinade can be made using 1:1 ratio of mirin and soy sauce.

Sake 

I recommend buying the Sho Chiku Bai sake for it’s affordability to use as a cooking sake. It can be found in most asian grocery stores! Sake adds much more sweetness in cooking compared to for example white wine. The characteristic of sake is that it is made from rice.

Soy Sauce 

This soy sauce by Kikkoman is very mild and has a much deeper flavor than the usual Kikkoman soy sauce. It contains dashi from kelp increasing the level of umami!