serves
6
prep
20 minutes
cook
5 minutes
difficulty
Easy
serves
6
people
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
5
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 600 g wagyu beef sirloin, cut into 6 pieces
- 1 tbsp Japanese sesame oil
- toasted white sesame seeds, chopped chives, finely shredded carrot salad and fried shishito peppers (see Note), to serve
Fig sauce
- 1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cooking sake (see Note)
- ½ each small orange and lemon, juiced
- 10 dried Turkish figs
- 2 tbsp white (shiro) miso paste (see Note)
- ½ small apple, peeled, cored, chopped
- ½ small onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 cm-piece ginger, finely chopped
- ½ tsp shichimi togarashi (see Note) or cayenne pepper
Soaking time 4 hours
Drink match Asahi beer
Instructions
To make fig sauce, combine soy, sake and citrus juices in a jug. Place figs in a bowl, pour over soy mixture, cover with plastic wrap and soak for 4 hours or preferably overnight.
Using a food processor, purée figs and juices with miso, apple, onion, garlic, ginger and shichimi until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap and set aside. Fig sauce will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Makes 200 ml.
Season beef with salt and pepper, then toss in sesame oil. Heat a large frying pan over high heat, add beef and brown, turning, for 2 minutes; the meat will still be rare inside. Transfer to a plate. Cool, then thinly slice.
Spread fig sauce on a platter and top with beef. Scatter over sesame and chives, and serve with the salad and shishito peppers.
Note
• Shishito peppers are small green varieties that are usually sweet, but one in 10 can be hot. They’re available from Asian food shops.
• Cooking sake is from Japanese food shops.
• White miso paste is from Asian food shops.
• Shichimi togarashi is a spice blend from select supermarkets and Asian food shops.
Photography John Reyment
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
