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–+ servings

Beef Shigureni (Simmered Wagyu)

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 4 sides

Ingredients 
 

Instructions 

  • Throughly scrub 150 g burdock root (gobo), then rinse and diagonally slice about 2mm thick. Submerge in a bowl of cold water with 1 dash rice vinegar and set aside for later.
    soaking peeled, thin, diagonal slices of burdock root (gobo) in water
  • Scrape off the skin of 20 g ginger root with a spoon and cut it into thin matchsticks (julienne). Submerge in a separate bowl of cold water and set aside for later.
    soaking peeled and julienned ginger in a glass bowl of cold water
  • Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. While you wait, cut 250 g thinly sliced beef into 2-3cm (1 inch) pieces and prepare a bowl of ice-cold water.
    thinly sliced wagyu beef cut into 2cm pieces on a wooden chopping board
  • Once the water is boiling, turn off the heat and blanch the beef by submerging for about 30 seconds or until lightly cooked (it should still be a little pink).
    blanching thinly sliced wagyu beef in hot water
  • Use a sieve to drain the hot water and quickly transfer the blanched beef to the bowl of ice-cold water to halt the cooking process and cool for a few minutes. Once cooled, drain and set aside for later.
    chilling blanched thinly sliced wagyu beef in ice cold water
  • Heat a frying pan on medium and add ½ tbsp cooking oil. Once hot, drain the burdock root and add it to the pan. Fry for 2 minutes.
    burdock root in a frying pan
  • Drain the ginger and add it to the pan along with 4 tbsp white wine, 3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 2 tbsp light brown sugar and 1 tbsp mirin. Mix well and simmer over a medium heat until the liquid ingredients are reduced by two-thirds.
    simmering burdock root in condiments and seasonings to make beef shigureni
  • Add the blanched beef to the pan and increase the heat to medium-high.
    Adding blanched thinly sliced wagyu beef to frying pan to make shigureni
  • Stir fry everything together until the liquid has almost gone and the beef is coated in the sauce, then turn off the heat.
    Stir frying beef with burdock, ginger and seasonings
  • Transfer to serving bowls and garnish with finely chopped green onions, toasted white sesame seeds and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Enjoy!
    Beef shigureni with ginger and burdock root in a white dish topped with chopped green onion

Notes

Reduce the glaze first. The single biggest reason home beef shigureni comes out tough is adding raw beef to the full volume of seasoning liquid at the start. Let the glaze reduce by roughly two thirds before the beef enters the pan.
Stop at the glistening film. When the beef is almost done, push it aside with chopsticks and look at the pan bottom. A thin layer of liquid should still catch the light. A visible puddle means under-reduced and watery. A completely dry pan means you are 30 seconds past scorch. That one visual cue is the whole stopping test.
Day 2 beats day 1. This dish is designed to be eaten the next day. Overnight rest in the fridge rounds and unifies the flavor.