Japanese Mirin-Poached Beef

Sorry that I haven't posted for a while, been a bit busy, but I hope that this recipe will make up for it. Once again I found it on the BBC Good Food website. I had half a joint of beef to use, so I looked for beef recipes and found this Japanese mirin-poached beef recipe, that because I already had the beef, was extremely cheap. Despite looking like a complicated meal to prepare, it turned out to be quite simple. I have to say that I have never tasted anything like it and that is mainly due to the unique taste of the Japanese mirin flavouring that has to be added. I thought that I would have great difficulty in getting hold of it, but as it turned out ASDA Online had it in stock, which I was pleasantly surprised about. Anyway enough chit chat, let's get cooking:

What you need:

250g of rump steak or as a cheaper option 250g of beef joint, trimmed off all fat

150ml vegetable stock

3tbsp soy sauce

5tbsp mirin

1 tbsp of golden caster sugar

1 onion, halved and sliced

half a tbsp of chopped pickled ginger

3 spring onions finely chopped

1 red chilli finely sliced

steamed rice to serve

What to do:

Put the meat into the freezer while you prepare the other ingredients (this will help when slicing). Combine the stock, soy, mirin and sugar in a pan, bring the mix to the boil, then turn down and let it simmer. Then add the onions and cook for another five minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the meat as thinly as you can. Add the beef to the pan and cook to your liking. Now plate up and sprinkle the ginger, spring onions and chilli over the dish and serve with boiled rice and a bit of the left over cooking sauce. For this recipe the BBC suggests using rump steak: I used part of a beef joint, and to be honest I would recommend using the rump steak as I had to cook the beef a bit longer and it got slightly tough. Nevertheless it was a very tasty meal experience.

Happy cooking and enjoy.