Marinated Steak with Sautéed Button Mushrooms

While a simple grill might be the best way to enjoy steak, once in a while I do crave for something heavier. More spices and layers of seasonings, all that paired with big bites of beefy goodness.

Marinated steak with sautéed button mushrooms - 

Ingredients?

• 280 grams sirloin steak
• 200 grams button mushrooms
• Small bundle flat leaf parsley

Marinade:

• 1 wedge onion (about 2 tablespoons grated)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

How?

Peel the onion and slice down one big wedge. Grate that till you get about 2 tablespoons of grated onion into a container that will be used for storing the steak. Peel and grate the garlic in there too.

Also add to the container all the remaining ingredients listed under the "marinade" section. Transfer the steak over, rub in the marinade all around. Put on the lid and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

When ready to cook, remove the steak from the fridge and rest under room temperature for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, wipe clean and trim-off the very bottom of the mushrooms. If the mushrooms are too big just slice in half instead.

Have a pan ready. Switch to medium heat and wait till warmed. There is no need to brush the pan with oil since our marinated steak got some olive oil on already.

Add in the steak but try to leave out the marinade first. Sear till browned on the bottom, flip and sear till the other side turns browned too. Just the regular steak searing process but it's ok if you can't get it to perfect doneness. Just make sure not to undercook the meat, we'd rather go for a bit overcooked steak for this recipe.

Once ready, remove the steak to serving plate. 

Still using the same pan, pour in all the remaining marinade. Keep using medium heat and add in all the prepped mushrooms. Give it a quick sautée till nearly cooked through and well-coated with the seasonings.

Pour that all over the steak. Garnish with some chopped parsley, flat leaf parsley preferred for a smoother bite.

I think this recipe is also good for someone whose unsure about grilling the steak to perfect doneness. After all, getting the right sear on the outside while maintaining that pinkish medium rare center needs practices.

So if that's the case, this marinated version of steak recipe might come in handy. Even if you happen to overcook the beef, well, at least I can ensure you that the texture should still be on the tender side thanks for the overnight marinade.

Try practice searing this marinated steak and see if you can get a good coloring on the outside. Even if you missed and cooked a bit longer than the ideal timing, rest assured that this will still be a tender flavorful meal in the end. 

Sancho Pork Onigiri - A Little Citrusy and Tingly Touch From the Japanese Spice

What do you usually get when visiting Japan? I'm sure lots of snacks and sweet treats might be involved. After all, Japanese really know how to make yummy cookies with awesome packaging design. It'll be very hard to resist the temptation grabbing extra boxes to take home with.

So on top of all the munches, I also got some local spices, such as the main flavoring agent - sancho pepper used in this rice ball recipe. It's similar to green peppercorn. However, the aroma is more pungent on the citrusy and even minty side instead of the actual spicy note. 

You'll find sancho pepper sometimes being used with grilled meat. Some fancy sushi places use it to for their hot dishes, providing an elegant yet distinct aroma. As for me, I've decided to add the sancho pepper to ground pork stir-fry, which can be enjoyed as a stand-alone dish, or later on being mixed into onigiri, all very delicious. 

Sancho pork onigiri - 

Ingredients (about 2 to 4 servings)?

• 2 to 4 portions steamed white rice (I mixed some quinoa in it)
• 310 grams ground pork (preferably leaner meat)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1/2 teaspoon sancho pepper 

How?

Precook the rice. Just make sure the rice temperature is about warm or even on the colder side when shaping into onigiri. Don't use steamy hot rice since there's too much moisture still. Peel and chop the garlic cloves.

Have a pan ready and drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil. Switch to medium heat, add in ground pork and chopped garlic. Stir-fry till the meat changes to whiter color.

Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of mirin. Mix till evenly blended. Stir-fry till reduced and the ground pork changes to even darker brown color.

Turn-off the heat then mix in 1/2 teaspoon of sancho pepper. Mix till blended and let the whole thing cool-off a little.

Scoop enough rice for the onigiri and mix in some ground pork mixture. For me the rice to pork ratio is about 3:1. Once blended together, form the rice into individual serving onigiri. 

Note that there should be some ground pork stir-fry leftover even if you made four big onigiri. It's unrealistic to stir-fry such small portion of pork just for the rice balls. But don't worry, any leftover pork stir-fry is actually quite easy to finish later on.

I simply served the sancho pork as one of the side dishes. If you'd like, you can also cook up some Asian noodles and use the sancho pork as flavoring ingredient. Just remember to add extra soy sauce or perhaps some black vinegar and chili sauce to boost up the savory touch.

Other onigiri recipes:

• Misoyaki onigiri 味噌焼きおにぎり
• Egg scallion and shio kombu onigiri 蔥蛋塩昆布日式飯糰
• Tuna and sesame oil rice balls (onigiri)
• Hijiki and inari age onigiri 羊栖菜豆皮飯糰