Miso-Marinated Beef in an Egg-White Jacket

This picture does not look elegant, but the meal was excellent! Mr. Tess came home later than usual and I was waiting to cook until he got home. I was beginning to worry, when he came in with an knee brace, saying the crutches were in the truck and no, he did not need them. He’d injured his knee! He got “comfortable” with his leg propped up. It was my turn to be the nurse (two years ago he took fabulous care of me when I broke my ankle)—but he kept getting up to put beer in the freezer, to get ice for his knee… Anyway, I brought him a glass of water, and pulled out a little table to put it on. He was trying not to limp as he left for work this morning…

Gyuniku no Ranpaku-age
serves 4
page 469

• 7 ounces Saikyo miso (sweet white miso)
• 3 Tablespoons sake (rice wine)
• 2 Tablespoons minced scallion
• 1 teaspoon toban jiang (Japanese chile-bean sauce)
• 1 pound beef sirloin, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon potato starch (or cornstarch)
• Vegetable oil for deep frying
• Tosazu dressing
• Mixed salad greens

Marinate the Beef Overnight:
In a bowl, combine the miso, sake, scallion and chile-bean sauce.
In a pan large enough to hold the beef in one layer, spread on-third of the miso mixture. Place a thin tightly woven cloth, or a double layer of cheesecloth, on top of the miso mixture, and arrange the beef slices on the cloth without overlapping. Cover the beef with another cloth and spread the remaining miso mixture over it.
Marinate overnight.
Frying the steak:
Remove the beef from the marinade, wipe off any residue with a paper towel, and cut the beef into thin strips.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites until very soft peaks form. Beat in the salt and potato starch.
In a skillet, heat 2 inches of vegetable oil to 320°F. Dip each slice of beef in the egg white, and fry the beef slices a few at a time until the coating is fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Serve the beef hot, accompanied by the salad greens and on the side a small bowl of tosazu dressing.

Cooking Notes: Do NOT beat the egg-whites too much. I was far from the “stiff peak” stage, but the egg mixture did not want to stick to the steak. I’d also suggest drying off the meat completely rather than just wiping it off. Also, don’t let the oil get too hot. As you can see, my oil was too hot! The coats are supposed to be white!

Because of a comment on this post I am editing to show a picture of the Japanese import of the toban jiang that I use for Japanese cooking. Sorry for the poor quality of the image, but it was taken when I first started this project, pre-blog, when my camera was an ancient 2 px brick.
I think toban jiang is a Japanese adaptation from China. And from my first excursions into Asian groceries, many other peoples have thought this is a very tasty flavor to adapt to their own tastes. The chile-bean sauce on the right was very oily and very, very hot.

Advertisement