by Edward Lee
5To cook the eggs: In the same skillet, melt the butter. Fry the eggs sunny-side up one at a time. Keep warm until ready to serve.
6To serve, scoop the rice into your rice bowls. Spoon the collard greens over the rice and place the beef over the greens. Place a fried egg over the beef in each bowl and spoon about a tablespoon of the rémoulade over the egg. Serve immediately, with spoons—it is best to mix everything together before enjoying.
If you can’t find flat-iron steak, sirloin or boneless short ribs work just as well. But stay away from tougher cuts like flank, because they’ll seize up and become very chewy, which isn’t the texture you want alongside soft, fluffy rice.
Steak Tartare with a Six-Minute Egg and Strawberry Ketchup
This is one of the few “restaurant-style” dishes in the book, but most of the prep can be done ahead of time, so when it comes to serving, it’s really about timing the egg just right. When the runny egg yolk breaks, it’s super sexy, and it brings all the other ingredients together. The Strawberry Ketchup adds an unexpected twist. The typical tomato ketchup relies on the concentrated sweetness of the tomato, a fruit. This version replaces the tomatoes with strawberries, which have an umami-rich sweetness of their own when cooked. Think of it as ketchup for grown-ups. I like to drink an earthy Oregon Pinot Noir with this dish. / Feeds 4 as an appetizer
Tartare
8 ounces boneless beef eye-of-round, tri-tip, or rib-eye
¼ cup minced shallots
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large eggs, preferably organic
¼ cup Strawberry Ketchup (recipe follows)
4 slices brioche, toasted and cut into 4 triangles each
Juice of 1 lime
A handful of arugula for garnish
Coarse sea salt
1To make the tartare: Mince the beef as fine as you can with a sharp chef’s knife. Put the meat in a chilled bowl, add the shallots, parsley, sesame oil, mustard, salt, and pepper, and gently toss with a rubber spatula. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
2While the tartare is chilling, gently place the eggs in a small pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and set your timer for 6 minutes. When the eggs are cooked, carefully remove them from the water and let cool in an ice bath. Then carefully peel the shells off under cold running water.
3To serve, spoon a tablespoon of the strawberry ketchup to one side of each plate. Place a piece of toast in the center of the plate. Spoon the beef tartare over the toast, and squeeze lime juice over the tartare. Carefully place 1 egg over the tartare on each plate. Garnish with the arugula, sprinkle some sea salt over the eggs, and serve immediately.
Strawberry ketchup is a great way to use slightly older, slightly bruised strawberries. Sometimes I can get them at the farmers’ market for a nice price toward the end of the season, when they aren’t as pretty but are still delicious. No one else wants them, but I buy as many as I can. Try strawberry ketchup with cured hams, corn dogs, and fried okra.
Strawberry Ketchup
Makes 2 cups
1 pound fresh strawberries, washed and hulled, sliced or halved
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1Combine the strawberries, onion, cider vinegar, brown sugar, and soy sauce in a small pot, bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook for 14 minutes, until the strawberries are soft and broken down.
2Transfer the berry mixture to a blender and puree on high. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard the solids.
3Add the white vinegar, ginger, salt, white pepper, paprika, cumin, and cloves. Whisk well. Transfer to two small jars, cover, and refrigerate. The ketchup will keep for up to a month in the refrigerator.
Lime Beef Salad
Beef doesn’t always have to be a caveman dish. It can be delicate and accompanied by crunchy, colorful, healthful produce. Serving meat with a salad satisfies the carnivore in you but it doesn’t make the meat the star of the show: the veggies are. Use good-quality fish sauce—and don’t be afraid of this ingredient: It’s the secret element that adds depth to the salad. This refreshing but earthy salad is perfect with an Austrian Grüner Veltliner. / Feeds 4
Vinaigrette
5 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from about 3 limes)
1½ tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger (use a Microplane)
½ teaspoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salad
8 ounces green cabbage, shredded as thin as possible
1 plum tomato, halved lengthwise and sliced into thin half-moons
1 mango (find one that is slightly underripe and still firm), peeled, pitted, and cut into thin matchsticks
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
1 red Fresno chile or jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
Beef
8 cups water
A small knob of ginger
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon salt
5 ounces boneless beef, sirloin or eye-of-round
1 small bunch cilantro, coarse stems removed, leaves and tender stems finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped peanuts
1To make the vinaigrette: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Cover and chill.
2To make the salad: Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss well. Cover and chill.
3To make the beef: Put the water, ginger, garlic, and salt in a small pot and bring to a boil over high heat, then turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes while you pound the beef.
4Cut the beef into thin slices: you should get about 8. One at a time, place each slice between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with the bottom of a small saucepan or a rolling pin until paper-thin. Transfer to a plate.
5Remove the chilled vinaigrette from the refrigerator. Using chopsticks or tongs, gently drop a few slices of beef into the simmering water and cook for just 10 seconds, or even less if you like your beef a little on the rare side. Remove the beef slices and immediately drop into the chilled vinaigrette. Repeat with the remaining beef slices.
6Add the beef and vinaigrette to the salad. Toss gently and arrange on small salad plates. Top with the cilantro and peanuts and serve immediately.
Cilantro stems are edible! I go crazy when I see cooks pick just the leaves and throw away the stems. Cilantro stems are delicate and crunchy, and they taste even better than the leaves. If you don’t want long cilantro stems in your dish, pull off the leaves and finely snip the stems like you would with chives.
Beef Bone Soup with Kabocha Dumplings
Korea is famous for its soups and stews, especially during the fall and winter, when we all crave steaming-hot comfort food. So much of Western cooking is about clarity in broths. This is the exact opposite: the bones are simmered hard so that the fat—the meat and marrow— emulsifies into the broth, and what you get is a broth that has a satisfying mouthfeel. The brightness of the pumpkin is a great way to balance the rich broth. I don’t generally like wine with hot so
ups; instead, reach for a flavorful beer like Spring Street Saison from Avondale Brewing. / Feeds 4
4 pounds beef bones, with a little meat still on them
8 ounces daikon radish, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds
½ white onion, sliced about ¼ inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 Kabocha Dumplings (recipe follows)
1 cup watercress sprigs
1Place the bones in a pot and add enough cold water to cover. Let sit at room temperature until all the blood has seeped out of the bones and meat, about 1 hour.
2Drain the bones, then fill the pot with enough cold water to cover the bones by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower the heat to a simmer, skim off any foam that rises to the surface, and keep at a rolling simmer for about 3 hours, until the broth is reduced to 8 cups; continue skimming off foam diligently. The broth should be cloudy and milky white.
3Transfer the bones to a large bowl. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve, then return it to the pot. Pull off any meat from the bones, chop it into small pieces, and add it to the soup. Discard the bones.
4Bring the soup to a simmer, add the daikon and onion slices, and simmer until the daikon is tender but still holds its shape, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5Add the dumplings to the soup and simmer until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Divide the soup among four bowls (3 dumplings for each bowl). Garnish with the sprigs of watercress and serve immediately.
Kabocha Dumplings
Makes 12 dumplings
2 cups ½-inch pieces peeled kabocha squash
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
Sea salt
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
12 round wonton wrappers
1Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2Spread the squash on a baking pan and roast for 35 minutes, or until lightly golden and tender. Let cool.
3Transfer the squash to a blender, add the butter and sesame oil, and puree until thick and smooth, adding water by the tablespoonful if necessary. It should be the consistency of mashed potatoes that can hold a shape on a plate. Season to taste with salt. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the sesame seeds. Chill until cool.
4Lay the wonton wrappers on a work surface. Place 2 teaspoons of the kabocha filling in the center of each wrapper. Moisten the edges of each wrapper with water, then fold in half and press to seal the edges. Cook the dumplings right away, or transfer to a lightly floured baking sheet and keep covered with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel until ready to use; use them within a few hours, or they will start to dry out. (You can freeze the dumplings on a tray with ample room until hard, then transfer to a freezer container or bag.) Note: Extra puree can be frozen and used for soups, fillings, or to make more dumplings.
If you can’t find kabocha, use pumpkin or butternut or acorn squash. I’d stay away from spaghetti squash or any of the lighter gourds, as they don’t have as much flavor. Frozen squash will work well in a pinch, but do not use squash that comes out of a can, please.
Grilled Kalbi
It took me forever to get this recipe from my mom. She doesn’t write down measurements, so whenever I asked for a recipe, she’d say something like, “Add a little bit of this and just enough of that.” But even without a recipe, her kalbi always tastes the same, and it’s always a treat to have her make it, versus eating it at a restaurant. I guess that’s just a mother’s touch. Finally, to get her recipe, I had to sit and watch her make it, taking notes as she mixed her ingredients together. Nowadays I make this when my friends want traditional-style kalbi. And I’ve stopped using measuring cups too. The marinade keeps well, so you can make it in advance to save some time. / Feeds 6 to 8 as a main course
Marinade
1½ cups soy sauce
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
⅓ cup Asian sesame oil
1 small onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
A small knob of ginger, grated (use a Microplane)
3 scallions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
5 pounds bone-in English-cut short ribs, cut about ⅓ inch thick (you can have your butcher do this)
Cooked white or brown rice (see page 4)
Spicy Napa Kimchi (page 169)
1To make the marinade: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and pulse to a chunky puree; you want a little texture. (The marinade can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
2Layer the short ribs in a casserole, pouring some of the marinade over each layer and making sure every rib is nicely covered. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or as long as overnight.
3Remove the ribs from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature.
4Prepare a very hot fire in a charcoal or gas grill; a quick char is what you want here.
5Grill the ribs for about 2 minutes on each side, until charred on the outside but still a touch rare in the middle. Serve with the rice and kimchi.
The grilling part of this recipe is key. You really have to watch the ribs because, depending on the thickness of the meat, it can overcook in seconds. You can broil these if you do not have a grill, but be mindful because the broiler can also quickly overcook them.
Braised Beef Kalbi with Soft Grits and Scallions
Kalbi can be made a number of ways, not just marinated and cooked on the grill. One popular method is to use beef short ribs that are cut thick and braise them slowly for a long time. It’s a winter dish in Korea and one that is normally served for special occasions or celebrations. The fat from the short ribs gives this a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Traditionally you might serve it with brown or white rice, but I like to pair it with Edamame Hummus (page 199). / Feeds 6 to 8
4 pounds English-cut bone-in short ribs
4 cups water
2 tablespoons corn oil
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
A small knob of ginger, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
¾ cup soy sauce
¾ cup chicken stock
½ cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
4 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 parsnips, peeled and coarsely chopped
⅓ cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons golden raisins
2 cups Edamame Hummus (page 199)
1Place the short ribs in a large pot and add the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 8 minutes. Remove the ribs from the water, pat dry, and set aside. Strain the liquid and reserve 2 cups of it.
2Rinse and dry the pot and return it to the stove. Add the corn oil and sesame oil and heat over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, add the short ribs and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes per batch. Return all the short ribs to the pot, then add the onions, garlic, and ginger and cook for 3 minutes.
3Add the soy sauce, chicken stock, mirin, and the 2 cups reserved cooking liquid and bring to a slow simmer. Stir in the sugar, honey, and pepper and simmer, partially covered, turning the ribs occasionally, for 1 hour.
4Add the carrots, parsnips, pine nuts, and raisins and continue to simmer, partially covered, until the ribs are tender and the braising liquid is thickened and flavorful, about 1 hour longer.
5Serve with a dollop of edamame hummus.
Like many slow-braised meat di
shes, this one will taste better the next day, so try to make it a day in advance.
Oxtail Stew with Lima Beans
When I was a kid, my grandmother would boil oxtail to within an inch of its life and serve it in a casserole with rice and kimchi. I would sit at the table for as long as it took to clean off the bones, gnawing and sucking on them. Oxtail was dirt cheap back then. It was a meat that mostly immigrants bought, because all that cartilage made for a hearty dish that would fill the tummies of a large family for little money. But oxtail has grown quite trendy these days, and it’s on the menus of some of the best restaurants across the country. My grandmother would have a fit if she saw the price of oxtail today.
This dish is both complex and peasant-like. You can use a fork for the beans, but I’d recommend eating the oxtail with your hands. Serve with Red Cabbage–Bacon Kimchi (page 166). / Feeds 4 or 5
3 pounds oxtails, cut into 2-inch segments
1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons corn oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
10 ounces carrots (about 2 large carrots), peeled and coarsely chopped
2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 habanero pepper, finely chopped
3 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
8 ounces (¾ cup) black bean paste (see note, page 19)
1 cup dry sherry
2 whole star anise
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup fresh or frozen lima beans
