There are many variations to steak tartare and one of my all time favourite was from a 2 star Michelin restaurant called The Greenhouse in Mayfair London. It was perfectly balanced with a generous layer of truffle cream and freshly shaved black truffle on top. The aroma was intoxicating and works extremely well with the flavourful tender beef. This version is trying to recreate that food memory with the addition of truffle salt, before rounding out with the smokiness from the egg yolk, peppery flavour from the nasturtium and the crispy texture from the rice paper.
Difficulty: Medium
Time: 15min prep, 15min cooking
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Steak Tartare
- 300g top quality eye fillet*
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 1 tbsp baby capers finely chopped
- 1 tbsp cornichons finely chopped
- 3 anchovies finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tbsp tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp brandy
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 egg yolk
- tabasco to taste
- truffle salt to taste
Pickled Radish
- 1 radish thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
Crispy Rice Paper
- 4 Vietnamese rice roll paper
- oil for deep frying
Garnish
- 2 egg yolks
- 6 nasturtium leaves
* Get the best quality eye fillet you can afford from a trusted butcher. Let them know that you intend to make steak tartare with the cut.
Method
1. Put the eye fillet in the freezer and leave it there for 15min. This will help firm up the meat and make it easier for cutting later.
2. Make the pickled radish by adding it to the mirin and vinegar mixture and let it marinade. This is a quick cheat as I wanted to include it last minute, you can replace it with proper pickling liquid as well and make it in advance.
3. Make the crispy rice paper by deep frying the Vietnamese rice paper sheet until it puffs up. Set aside.
4. Take out the beef fillet. Thinly slice the beef across the muscle grains, then dice into small cubes (about 40mm in width). It's very important to dice this carefully with hand instead of mincing it as this will retain the texture of the beef.
5. Add the diced beef into a bowl, add all the ingredients and mix thoroughly and carefully with a spoon not destroying the texture of the delicate beef, season with truffle salt.
6. Separate 2 egg yolks into 2 separate small glass bowls. Glad wrap the glass blows leaving only a small opening. Ignite the smoking gun and infuse smoke into the glass bowls before fully wrapping up the bowls and let it sit. I used hickory smoking chips for the stronger flavour.
7. Plate by putting the steak tartare in the middle, carefully slide the smoked egg yolk onto the top and garnish with nasturtium, pickled radish and crispy rice paper. Enjoy!
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