Steak Tartare

Steak Tartare often receives very polar opinion.  Some people, like Mr. Bear and I, just absolutely love it while some others are simply disgusted by the thought of raw meat. I guess as Asians, we grew up eating sushi and all kinds of weird stuff so we never find eating raw meat a problem.

Having said that, when making steak tartare, I would be very careful with my choice of meat and wouldn’t just pick up some cheap ground beef in the local supermarket.  I always use the freshest, highest quality beef from a reputable source.  That doesn’t mean that you should to buy an expensive marbling wagyu though; the best cut for steak tartare in my opinion is a lean beef tenderloin.  We managed to get our hands on using a very nice piece of organic prime beef, so we decided to serve steak tartare as an appetizer for a French bistro themed dinner, along with the duck confit which my friend saw on my previous blog post.  It’s such a classy and impressive dish yet so easy to make. You can pretty much throw it together in less than 15 minutes so it’s perfect for a dinner party because you can just make it right before dinner while your guests are sipping welcome drinks and mingling with each other.

Serve 4 (as an appetizer)
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:
- 300 grams prime beef tenderloin, chopped into small dice

- 3 medium anchovy fillets, minced

- 2 teaspoons brined capers, drained

- 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

- 2 tablespoons shallot or red onion, finely chopped

- 2 tablespoons Italian flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

- 4 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

- 3 dashes Tabasco

- 1 teaspoon chile pepper flakes

- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 quail egg yolks

- Chives, chopped (for garnish)

Method:

1. Place anchovies, capers, and mustard on a sterilized chopping board and combine using the back of a knife.

2. Fold all remaining ingredients except quail eggs into mustard mixture until thoroughly combined. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Place a tarlet ring on each plate and spoon the mixture into the rings. Lift off the ring gently. Make a slight dent in the centre of each tartare and top it with a quail egg yolk.

4. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately with toasted brioche or French fries.

Notes:

1. For those of you who are concerned about the safety of eating raw meat, here’s my two cents:  Cut the meat with sterilized knife and chopping board would definitely reduce the chance of contaminating the meat.  I always keep a separate knife and chopping board for sashimi and raw meat.  Put the meat back into the fridge if you’re not ready to serve right away.  I chopped the meat into very fine dice instead of grinding it because 1) I prefer the texture of the diced meat and 2) it’s more sanitary than processing meat in a grinder as I find it more difficult to completely sterilize the grinder.

2. Butchered meat is generally sterile except on its exterior.  If you are really nervous, you can use the “sear and shave” method.  Sear all sides of your meat to kill the bacteria on the surface and then cut the seared edges away.  Then you can proceed with making the steak tartare with the inside part which is still raw.  The downside is that you will be throwing a fair amount of good quality beef away.