ridiculous hungry: Beef Tataki & Bragging Rights...

By many of the standard measurements, I am a big, fat *FAIL* of an Asian daughter of my generation. Frustratingly willful, shamefully outspoken and woefully underachieving, I didn't give my father too many bragging rights to counter when my cousins got accepted to Berkeley and MIT, or when his best friend's daughter got into Stanford, and I attended a state school for loser commuters like me instead. And though the tides changed when one of the cousins met with some legal <clear throat> *issues* over dealings related to certain <clear throat again> *herbs*, and the friend's daughter came home to stay for a few years too long armed with a 6 figure degree but no job (or any desire to have one), and I was living independently, my dad didn't gloat. Lucky for both of us, he's never been the type.

I think I inherited that trait from my dad. I get an uneasy feeling when parents brag about their children's achievements. And when I say *brag*, I don't mean the kind of earnest honorable mention you give your children, in their presence, to another person, so they will know that you recognize and value their achievements. I'm talking the bragging that mothers do to their PTA frenemies and the pissing contests fathers have with golf buddies about their children's achievements as if they were their own (and even then, that would be a little awkward).

My kids love this tataki, and that makes
me somewhat, sort of proud...

I realize my thinking on this subject, and in general, contradicts much of the filial piety that pervades both my parents' cultures. (Yet more evidence of my failure as an Asian daughter - Tiger Mom would have my hide...). But perhaps as a result of my own struggle to reconcile a fiercely independent and possibly even dysfunctionally detached nature with a fairly Confucian upbringing, I like to think my children's characters and achievements are very much their own. (Which is not to say we don't offer the constant encouragement and occasional nudge...)

So while I think it strange that most parents boast about their kids' report cards, trophies, and piano recitals, I've no doubt in my mind that those parents would think me a huge kook if they knew what about my own kids makes my heart swell with happiness, if not also a tinge of pride. Not so much because I am incredibly pleased and grateful that my daughter is empathic, sensitive and caring and that my son is creative, protective, and generous...

They even like their beef a nice, juicy, pink medium rare to rare.
This is also a source of pride.

More likely because girlfriend could barely contain herself when Mads learned to eat pho with chopsticks, ambidextrously even, when she was 3. And because I was happier than a pig in shit when Joe, at the age of 5, having eaten his first beef tataki at Cafe Hiro, resolved never to eat medium or well done steak again. These are the things that make a quirky, maladjusted mother who happens to be more than mildly obsessed with food, come THISCLOSE to bragging.

So when my son asks for tataki, and my daughter volunteers to help me make it AND write down the recipe for me, I beam from the inside out with happiness and gratitude and even a touch of pride, that my children are beginning to develop a love of good food and the process of making it, that we'll be able to share for many years to come.

She did an awesome job of writing down the recipe for me.
That's right. I'm bragging. So what.

Tataki is usually dressed with ponzu, a citrus based sauce made with yuzu and often mixed with shoyu (Japanese for soy sauce), and it's easily accessible to me. But as usual, I love the challenge of both replicating and putting my own signature on the dishes I love using relatively common ingredients so my friends who have limited access to exotic ingredients (or are just as cheap and lazy as I am) can enjoy them too.

As you might have noticed by now, I am almost always suggesting that meat be brought to room temp before cooking. This is especially important with a dish like beef tataki, where the meat is just seared on the outside long enough to form a crust and just long enough to warm, but not cook, the meat through to the center.

BEEF TATAKI

Serves 4 as a meal, 6 as an appetizer

2 to 2.5 pounds beef steaks, 1" thick (I used ribeye - you could do sirloin, or even London Broil, as this dish is best prepared medium rare to rare and sliced thin)
salt and pepper for seasoning

Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce (I used Kikkoman Lite)
1/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 clove garlic, sliced or smashed, for steeping
1 or 2 thin slices of onion for steeping

Garnish

1/2 cup very thinly sliced bulb onion (about 1/2 a small onion - white, yellow or red ok)
2 green onions, cut in 2 inch segments, then sliced vertically into very thin strips
2 cups ice water

1) Lightly season all steaks on both sides with salt and pepper and bring them up to room temperature (at least 30 minutes out of the fridge) while preparing the sauce and garnish.

2) Prepare the garnish by putting the sliced bulb and green onion into the 2 cups of water for at least 10 minutes. This will mellow and crisp them at the same time. It also slightly curls the green onion greens, if you like that sort of thing...

3) Prepare the sauce by combining all ingredients in a bowl and stirring or whisking until the sugar is completely dissolved.

4) Make sure the beef is up to room temp and preheat your pan on high heat. I used a non-stick grill pan this time, but a cast iron pan would work great, or even a good, thick stainless steel one with just a tiny splash of oil would work well. It's important to ensure that the pan is pretty much screaming hot before you cook the steak to ensure the proper sear of the outside and heating of the inside in a relatively short cook time.

5) Pat excess moisture off both sides of the steaks and sear them, one at a time, roughly 3 minutes a side for rare, up to 4 minutes a side for medium rare (slightly less time on a cast iron pan). And ensure the edges are seared as well by propping them up on the sides or holding them up with tongs for 30 to 45 seconds an edge.

6) Rest steaks for 5 to 7 minutes before slicing. The resting period will allow the meat to cool and keep juices from running in the slicing process. A cooling rack is ideal for the job, as it allows air to hit both sides of the steak and stop the cooking process. Cooling on a flat surface is also fine, but will result in some steam and additional cooking on the bottom side.

7) Slice into 1/8" - 1/4" strips, on a slight angle, and arrange them overlapping on a plate. Dress with sauce and a small handful of garnish.

Served with a small bowl of steamed rice, a fresh, crisp cucumber salad, and an improvised miso-like soup made from Korean dwehnjang, this made for a light, refreshing meal enjoyed by adults and monsters alike. A little dollop of wasabi mixed into the sauce gave a good, peppery bite to alternating slices of steak.