Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s speedy Japanese-style steak dinner with daikon and rice

Name: Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s speedy Japanese-style steak dinner with daikon and rice
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 4 x 100g minute steaks (see tip); steamed medium-grain rice, to serve

Julia Busuttil Nishimura

May 17, 2024

Minute steaks in a Japanese marinade are a speedy midweek dinner.William Meppem

easyTime:30 mins - 1 hourServes:4

Since they take, quite literally, one minute to cook on each side, minute steaks are a speedy dinner option. Here, I’ve steeped them in a simple Japanese marinade, which you can use later for serving. The quick daikon salad is nutty and crunchy and, alongside some steamed rice, this is a pretty easy meal.

Ingredients

4 x 100g minute steaks (see tip)
steamed medium-grain rice, to serve

FOR THE marinade

50ml soy sauce
50ml mirin
1 tbsp sake
1 garlic clove, finely grated
2 tsp caster sugar

FOR THE sesame daikon SALAD

300g daikon
½ tsp soy sauce
½ tsp caster sugar
1 tsp light extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for cooking
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds, lightly crushed
1 spring onion, finely sliced, plus extra to serve
sea salt, to taste

Method

Step 1
Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a bowl or container and add the steaks, turning them to ensure they’re well coated. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or, ideally, 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.
Step 2
Prepare the daikon salad by trimming and peeling the skin from the daikon. Use a vegetable peeler to shave the daikon into thin ribbons. Set aside.
Step 3
In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, oil, vinegar and sesame seeds. Season to taste and set aside.
Step 4
Heat a frying pan over high heat, add 2 tsp of oil and, when hot, cook the steaks for one minute on each side. You might need to do this in batches, adding a little more oil if necessary. Set aside to rest briefly.
Step 5
Pour any remaining marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over a high heat. Simmer for 1-2 minutes or until slightly reduced into a sauce. Set aside.
Step 6
Just before serving, combine the daikon with the dressing in a bowl along with the sliced spring onion and toss to coat. Slice the steaks and serve with the daikon salad, steamed rice, sauce and extra spring onion.

Tip: You can buy dedicated minute steaks or you can ask your butcher to trim 1.5cm-thick porterhouse steaks of excess fat and flatten them to about 7mm in thickness