Look away now if you are vegetarian, for this is a salad very much for carnivores! Unless of course you fancy switching the steak for tuna or tofu? Both of which I think would work equally well…
It’s not all fish in Japan (although as you might imagine there is a lot!), and we were served beef quite a few times in a set menu scenario. Fine slivers of the stuff set on beautiful paper thin china plates, and often served raw alongside a tiny burning hot pots – so you can cook it yourself to your liking (Be warned – I now have a rather attractive moon shaped burn on one thumb thanks to the combination of forgetting it was a hot pot, and some sake sampling!)… We didn’t get to try Wagyu, and although the authentic stuff is supposed to be the some of the best in the world, when I inspected in the food markets it looked (to my untrained eye!) more like fat marbled with meat rather than the other way around!
This is salad is packed full of Japanese flavours, and quite typical of some of the styles of salad served. It’s also perfect for the heatwave, and for those with other halves who seem programmed to light the barbeque at every opportunity given the weather!…
Recipe – Serves 2 (3 at a push!)
Dressing:-
2.5 tablespoons good sesame oil;
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar;
50ml Rape Seed Oil;
4 Teaspoons Wasabi paste
1.5 Tablespoons sliced Pickled Ginger (Plus 1 tablespoons liquid);
1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard;
1 Teaspoon Soy sauce;
50g toasted sesame seeds;
Salt & Pepper
Leaves:-
100g Rocket
150g Watercress, lambs lettuce or baby spinach leaves;
1 Cucumber thinly sliced into ribbons;
A few radishes thinly sliced;
2 or 3 sliced shizo leaves (optional)
Meat: 500g Organic Rump Steak (or good sirloin depending on preference)
- Place all the dressing ingredients into a bowl, whisk well to combine. Set to one side;
- Prepare Salad leaves, radishes, and “ribbon” cucumber with mandolin (or a potato peeler if you have been banned from using a mandolin after a sliced finger incident!!);
- Season steak with salt and pepper, grill for 3 minutes per side (although I do not believe this was the case with this steak!) and leave to rest;
- Mix leaves and dressing together at this point, add the sliced steak and devour.
Four Seasons Food hosted by DelicieuxChezfoti
What a beautiful photo and heavenly-sounding recipe. Am bookmarking this for the second I’ve given birth. *wells up at the sight of a rare steak*
Thank yoU! I remember when I had my son, my friend brought me the biggest plate of sushi. Amazing! :)
Hehe!! My favourite sushi place actually delivers to the hospital I’m aiming to give birth in :D
That’s what you call customer service. I hope they include a free bottle of champagne with that! Anyway, I think you should go home and go into labour in M&S. Then (according to the myth) you get free shopping for life or something. I am sure I read it somewhere! Sounds like a plan, no? :)
I would swap the steak for fish… ;o) It looks delicious, though. xx
I think it would work really well with seared tuna! :) xx
One fabulous salad you have here!. So loving the Japanese flavours and the very lightly seared steak – just how I like it. Would love to try. Thanks so much for entering your post to the Four Seasons Food challenge!
Thank you Louisa! No problem! Love the linky! :)
Looks delicious and yes my man does light the BBQ at every given opportunity. I have never tried wasabi and I’m very lacking on Japanese food, maybe I ought to do something about that?
I think you should! :) Thanks Mari! xx
This is exactly my kind of meal! Yum, yum and a massive YUM. Going straight on my ‘yummy things’ Pinterest board.
Aw thank you! :) x
Looks gorgeous…. and I have some thin steaks in the freezer too ;-)
xx Jazzy
Perfect! Thanks J! :) xx
Looks fantastic! Perfect beachhut food. I bought steak at a ridiculous price at Waitrose yesterday so I think this will be on the menu this week (sorry to mention Waitrose to an expat!). Elinor x
Brilliant! I will forgive you for mentioning Waitrose (weeps)… :D x
Seriously yummy…I could eat salads like that everyday of the week! I love Japanese food, so many wonderful flavours and fresh crunchy textures. This dish is simply heaven for me. Thanks for entering into Four Seasons Food! x
Definitely one of my favourite cuisines! Thank you Anneli! :) x
its breakfast time and now im hungry again oh yummy yum yum i would so have the steak blue as could be
Thank you! A perfect dish for you then! :)
ooh wow that looks gorgeous. will be giving this a go!
Thank you! Hope you like it! :)
That looks amazing! Now drooling, and off to source ingrediants…
At least you won’t have to search for decent steak where you are?! Thank you :)