Japanese Steak Rolls with Garlic Lime Rice

The Recipe

Courtesy of: Cuisine at Home Magazine

Japanese Steak Rolls:
1 lb flank steak, trimmed
16 8-inch asparagus spears trimmed
16 8-inch scallions trimmed
6 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
6 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

Slice flank stead across the grain into 16 strips, 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. Pound each to about 1/8-inch thick and season with salt and pepper.

Place one asparagus spear and one scallion across the short end of a strip of beef. Roll beef around vegetables and secure with a toothpick. Place on a shallow baking pan in a single layer; roll remaining beef and vegetables.

Combine remaining ingredients, pour over beef and marinate 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare Garlic Lime Rice (see recipe below). 

Preheat broiler to high. Broil steak rolls 5 minutes. Remove from pan, tent with foil to keep warm, and strain marinade into a small sauce pan. Remove toothpicks from steak rolls before serving. Boil marinade until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Spoon glaze over each serving.

Garlic Lime Rice:
1 tbsp olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup long-grain white rice
2 cups water
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
2 tsp lime zest, minced

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high. Add garlic; saute 3 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in rice; saute 2 minutes.

Add water, lime juice, and salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until water is absorbed.

 Stir in cilantro and lime zest.

Review

There were a few things that we changed in the recipe to better suite our tastes. First, instead of using the full 6 tbsp of rice vinegar in the sauce of the steak rolls, we used 2 tbsp rice vinegar and 4 tbsp chicken broth (we tend to keep some on hand at all times in our fridge). We did this because the rice vinegar can really over power any sauce (as we have learned in the past). We also omitted the cilantro in the garlic lime rice. Also, to use up all of the asparagus, most rolls had 2 or 3 spears in the roll. We quickly blanched the asparagus since the rolls are not cooked very long in the oven.

Overall this recipe was pretty delicious, the lime rice was especially excellent! We decided since this makes a lot of rolls that next time we would use more meat on each roll and make less rolls. However, we did not pound out the steaks enough either, so the meat was a little tough. It would probably be best to marinate the meat in the fridge either over night or for at least an hour before making the rolls. It would help tenderize the meat.