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Sous vide beef tataki is how the pros make your steak perfect every time.
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5 from 3 votes

beef tataki

Tataki beef is easiest to do using sous vide technique but if you can pan fry a steak you can make it.
Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time2 minutes
Total Time2 hours 2 minutes
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Japanese
Servings: 4
Calories: 132kcal
Author: romain | glebekitchen

Ingredients

Steaks

  • 12-14 oz good quality top sirloin - cut 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick. You don't want your sear to cook the steak too much.
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 2-3 green onions

Simple ponzu sauce

  • 1 1/2 Tbsp sake
  • 2 tsp mirin
  • 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp water
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice - good or a combination of lemon and lime juice (better), strained

Instructions

Sous vide the steak and cook the steaks

  • Salt the steaks liberally.
  • Use a food saver to shrink wrap the steaks.
  • Pre-heat your sous vide to 116 degrees. See below for guidelines on temperature vs. level of doneness.
  • Immerse the shrink wrapped steaks in the water and let it cook for about 90-110 minutes.
  • Remove the steaks from the water bath.
  • Heat a sturdy skillet large enough to hold the steak in a single layer over medium high heat.
  • Add about 1 Tbsp of vegetable or peanut oil.
  • Sprinkle the steaks with black pepper to taste. A nice crust of butcher's grind pepper is nice. Not particularly Japanese but nice.
  • Sear the steaks one one side for about 20 seconds. Flip and cook on the other side for 20 seconds. Repeat on each side for a total of about 80 seconds.
  • Sear the sides (stand the steaks up) about 20 seconds on each of the long sides.
  • Let rest 5 minutes.

Make the simple ponzu sauce

  • Combine the sake and mirin in a small sauce pan and simmer for 1 minute.
  • Add the remaining ingredients and stir.

Prep the green onions

  • Here's a trick that food bloggers don't advertise. If you want those nifty curled green onions it's easy.
  • Julienne the green part of a couple green onions.
  • Immerse the julienned green onion in a small bowl of ice and water.
  • Stir them around a bit with your finger to get them unstuck from each other.
  • Let stand about 20 minutes.
  • Drain and blot on paper towel.
  • That's it. Now you know.

Serve the beef tataki

  • Slice the beef thinly. Try to get as close to across the grain as you can. If you have a nice Japanese knife this is a good place to use it.
  • Fan the beef out. Garnish with thin slices of the white portion of a green onion along with the curled green onion.
  • Drizzle with ponzu sauce.
  • Serve with additional ponzu sauce.

Notes

Sous vide temperature should be just under your target temperature.
116-118F for bloody rare
122 for rare - end target 125
128 for medium rare - end target 130
133 for medium
More than medium you don't need to learn sous vide. Just cook your beef as you always have. Consider trying it done less sometime if you are feeling brave. You are missing out.

Nutrition

Serving: 4servings | Calories: 132kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 878mg | Potassium: 350mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 60IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1.8mg