Holy schamoly these simple, Japanese inspired Green Tea Beef marinated skewers were the absolute gear.  My Husband LOVED this meal as it was so tasty, really healthy and just……delicious.  Dinner does not need to be boring.  With a few pantry ingredients you can take a plain old beef skewer and turn it into something awe inspiring that doesn’t pull too hard on the purse strings and will make you the star of the Family, if you weren’t that already!

 

Prep time:  20  Minutes

Marinating time:  At least 1 hour

Cooking time:  20  Minutes  

$$  Medium Budget

Serves 4

For the Green Tea Beef Yakitori Skewers:

800 gms of beef, diced into 2cm chunks   (I used scotch fillet but rump or porterhouse would also be good.  Whatever is on special!)

1/2 cup of light soy sauce

2 tbs of sweet chilli sauce

1 lemon grass stem, finely chopped (use a small hand blender, grater or processor)

3cm piece of ginger, grated

2 tbs of finely chopped coriander

1 tsp of chilli oil (optional)

2 tsp of loose leaf green tea (or two tea bags sliced open and tea removed)

4 tbs of pickled ginger, to serve

Wasabi & Kewpie Mayonnaise to serve

For the Seasoned Rice:

1.5 cups of Jasmine rice

2 cups of water

1 tsp of grated ginger

Sea salt and pepper

2 spring onions, finely sliced (some reserved for garnish)

2 tbs of mirin

2 tbs of Furikake Seasoning

For the Radish & Cucumber salad:

4-5 radishes, thinly sliced with a mandolin

1 lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced with a mandolin

A handful of snow pea sprouts, ends removed and leaves finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely sliced

1/4 cup of soy sauce

1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup of mirin

A squeeze of lemon

Soak 8 wooden skewers in a sink or bowl of cold water for 10 minutes, this will prevent them from burning on the BBQ.

In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the soy, chilli sauce, chilli oil, green tea, coriander, ginger and lemon grass.  Add the beef and toss to coat.  Marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour but the longer the better.  Once marinated, thread the beef on to the skewers, making sure they are nice and tight and pour over the remaining marinade.

Place the rice, water, ginger and a generous pinch of salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 12 minutes.  Remove from the heat lift the lid quickly and add the sliced spring onion and pour in the mirin, replace the lid and leave the lid on for 5-10 minutes.  Once the rice has rested, stir through the furikake seasoning, reserving a little to sprinkle on top of the rice

Place the sliced radishes and cucumber in a bowl with the snow pea sprouts and spring onions.  Combine the soy, rice wine vinegar, mirin and lemon juice in a small bowl and stir to combine.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine just before serving.

Heat a BBQ plate or grill to nice and hot.  Sear the beef skewers for a couple of minutes on each side until nice and caramelised and then pour over the remaining marinade.  The beef should be cooked for about 8 minutes in total for medium rare.  Remove from the BBQ and set aside to rest.

Remove the lid from the rice and add the spring onion, sesame seeds and Nori strips, reserving some of each of these items for garnish.  Season with salt and pepper and use a fork to fluff and mix the rice.

To serve, spoon the rice mixture into a small ramekin and invert on to each plate.  Add a nice little pile of the radish & cucumber salad and top with two of the beef skewers.  Sprinkle over the remaining spring onion and Furikake seasoning and drizzle over any leftover juices from the meat.  Pop a nice little pile of pickled ginger on each plate with a dob of wasabi and kewpie mayo and listen to the groans of pure delight from your dinner table guests!

 

 

 

Are you a fan of Japanase food?  You may want to cook this……