If you ask someone to name five popular dishes served in Belgian restaurants, chances are that steak tartare is on that list. As every classic dish deserves a make-over from time to time, we will try to give steak tartare a new twist, an Eastern one. That way, the beloved flavors will stand out even more. The sophisticated Japanese kitchen (with the typical umami-flavor) and the Belgian classics are definitely a match. Combine them and firework is what you’ll get!   

Ingredients

• 200 g lean beef filet (e.g. Tournedos, or ask the butcher for advice)
• Caviar or other fish eggs (e.g. trout eggs)
• 1/2 finely chopped shallot
• 2 radishes with stem
• 2 – 3 prawn crackers
• 4 g lemon juice
• Mayonnaise (Preferably homemade)
• Soy sauce
• Glutamate MSG (e.g. Maggi)
• Olive oil
• Fleur de sel
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Cress

How to prepare?

Sear the meat very briefly on both sides. Allow to cool in the freezer until the outside is lightly frozen. The inside should just be well cooled and not frozen. It should take about half an hour before the steak will be cooled perfectly in the freezer. Cut the steak about 30 minutes before serving into small cubes. You’ll see that this way the steak is allowed to beautifully issue its color.

Prepare the umami-mayonnaise by adding some soy sauce and glutamate to plain mayonnaise. Just a teaspoon of both liquids should be enough for a big cup of mayonnaise. In order to enjoy the optimal taste experience it’s best to use homemade mayonnaise. The recipe can be found here.

Cut the radish into thin slices like carpaccio. Submerge in cold water to avoid the slices from becoming limp. Finely cut the upper stretches of the green stems.

Mix the meat with the shallot, olive oil, pepper salt and lemon. To avoid the tartare from getting dry, only mix in the last 2 ingredients at the very last moment.

Arrange the chopped steak on the plate together with the green radish stems. Put a few tufts of caviar or other fish eggs on top. We have used trout eggs because of the size and the crunchy structure. Use a squeeze bottle to add dots of umami-mayonnaise. Arrange slices of radish on top of the holes in the little tower. Decorate with bits of prawn cracker.

Thisty?

We enjoyed a bottle of iKi bier with Yuzu. The green tea fragrance makes the beer taste soft and refined. The Yuzu fruit adds some refreshing citrus flavors.