Steak Tartar
Classic French bistro fare! This is a dish that many chefs have a soft spot for. Traditional French style is dressed with cornichons, mustard, lemon juice, brandy and egg yolk. But for this version, we will be highlighting the quality of the beef, so make sure you get a good piece from your local butcher! The way I see it, if you are just going to dress it with all those ingredients that mask the flavour of the meat, then why have it there in the first place? This is a dish that I love to keep as simple as possible and just enhance the natural flavours of the meat.
Ingredients:
Cook time 15 minutes
2 cups beef short ribs, diced
2 tbsp tare (from sauces)
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp shallots, minced
1 tsp Black Maple
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp parmeggiano reggiano
4 sheets nori
Instructions:
Dry aged short rib from grass-fed beef will have the most flavour, while tenderloin will be the softest and leanest cut for tartare. Some chefs also use skirt steak. When using short rib, try to find a lean piece. Raw beef fat feels grainy and unpalatable.
You want to make sure you have relatively same-sized pieces. Also, slice the meat gently to maintain the texture, don’t just chop it up! I have been to several places where you can easily tell that the restaurant used a meat grinder to process the meat into tartare. The result is mushy, pasty and overall unappetizing.
Cut the meat into 1/2 cm or 1/4” cubes to keep some of that meaty texture. Fold in all the ingredients except the nori. And that’s it! It seems really simple because it is. This tartare recipe is one that focuses solely on the quality of ingredients and not so much on the technique of the cook.
Use the nori to pick bite-size chunks of tartare to eat!