Wagyu tataki

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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.