Advertisement
Advertisement

Yukhoe

This Korean raw beef dish (variations on the spelling include yukhwe and hukhue) is easy to make. You'll have to plan ahead and freeze the beef for 30 minutes before preparing the ingredients; that's also when you should start cooking the rice, if you're serving it as an accompaniment to the dish.

Choose beef with little exterior fat and silverskin, such as tenderloin. It's even better (if a trifle extravagant) if made with well-marbled Japanese beef.

250 grams boneless beef, in one piece, frozen for 30 minutes

15ml light soy sauce

10ml pure sesame oil

About 1 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted then crushed

For the garnish:

1-2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 nashi pear, peeled, cored and cut into thick matchsticks

2 quail eggs, yolk only

15 grams pine nuts, coarsely crushed

2 spring onions, sliced lengthwise into thin strips, then cut into 4cm pieces

1 tsp pure sesame oil

1/4 tsp gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)

2 lemon wedges

Romaine or red leaf lettuce leaves

Cut the partially frozen beef across the grain into 5mm thick pieces. Stack the pieces, then cut them into 5mm strips.

Season the beef with the soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and sesame seeds. Taste for seasonings and adjust if necessary.

Shape the beef into two slightly fattened patties and place them in the middle of two plates. Make a small crater in the centre of each patty then put a quail egg in the indentation.

Mix the spring onions with the sesame oil and gochugaru and divide among the plates.

Add the sliced garlic and Asian pear, then sprinkle with the pine nuts.

Let each diner mix the ingredients together, including a squeeze of lemon juice (if using), before eating with the lettuce leaves. Serve with banchan (Korean side dishes) and steamed rice.

Post