With summer comes the urge to barbecue. I must qualify this statement by precising that some people are immune to the temptation, most notably my husband. I have recently checked one of his excuses for not falling prey to the quasi universal appeal of outside cooking and found it sorely lacking. Barbecues, according to him have nothing on ovens. To prove him right, manufacturers have been rolling out barbecues that are in effect exterior ovens. Their only advantage, to my eyes, comes from the rotisserie they are equipped with. Unfortunately, they do not provide the incomparable flavor that only comes from cooking on red embers.
I now seem to contradict myself, as, in previous postings, I have been cautioning against Maillard reaction and its potential carcinogenic effects. Keeping this in mind, I propose two methods to evade the threat while keeping the taste. The first and essential rule is to never place the meat directly in contact with a flame. Should it happen, when the grease from the meat falls onto the embers and provokes a flare, it is imperative to remove the meat, and sprinkle a handful of coarse salt to put out the fire. You have to be careful not to stand to close to the pit, as the grains of salt jumps around and may hit you. The second technique borrowed from Japan is even healthier. Use the leaf of a tree to protect the meat In Takayama where I ate Miso Beef grilled on dry chestnut tree leaves, the server brought an hibachi to the table and let us each grill the marinated beef. My inclination to barbecue albeit with a protection has a second more practical origin. Two years ago, foraging in some vegetable garden catalog, I foolishly purchased some raifort roots. Since then I have been cursed with the invasive plant. Being a persistent cook, I force fed cooked raifort leaves to my unsuspecting family with mixed results. Even I had to concede that the leaves remain tough. This is how I struck on to the protective but non-edible usage of the plant. The leaf actually adds a mustard flavor to the meat. If you do not have raifort leaves, kale or vine leaves are good substitutes. The best cut for this dish happens to be cheap and to contain the right amount of marbled flesh: beef sirloin tips emulate pampered Japanese beef for a fragment of the cost.
Japanese Miso Beef grilled on raifort leaves
Ingredients:
One sirloin tip
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Raifort, kale or vine leaves
1 Miso tablespoon
1/4 cup (60 ml) Mirin sauce
1/4 cup (60 ml) teriyaki or thick soja sauce
1 spring onion (scallion)
Material:
1 sharp carving knife
1 blender
1 big plastic bag
1 Hibachi grill or barbecue
1 set of tongues
Place the meat in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Place all the other ingredients except for the raifort leaves into the blender and mix well. The sauce should be thick. If the consistency is too watery, add some miso.
Carve the meat as thinly as possible and place in the plastic bag. Pour the marinade into the bag and shake until well coated.
Prepare the barbecue and light it half an hour to an hour before cooking the meal.
Place the leaves on the embers. Lay separately each slice of meat, add a little sauce on top. Turn each slice over after two minutes. After another minute, remove the slice and place on a warm plate. Repeat until you run out of meat.
Serve on top of sushi rice.
Posts
