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Beef Kushiyaki (Japanese Skewers)

Dinner | Japanese

Prep time: 45 min Cook time: 15 min Servings: 4

Kushiyaki means skewered and grilled in Japanese. This beef version uses fillet cut into 3cm cubes and threaded onto pairs of skewers. Threading the beef onto two parallel skewers rather than one prevents each cube from spinning in place when you turn them, which means both sides cook evenly against the heat.


The marinade is built on soy, caster sugar and sake, with lemon, ginger, garlic and oyster sauce. After the beef is threaded, the remaining marinade goes into a saucepan and reduces by a third over medium heat. The sugars concentrate as the liquid reduces and the result is a lacquered glaze that goes onto the beef during the second half of the cook.


Trim the silverskin from the fillet before cutting into cubes. Silverskin is the thin white connective tissue on the surface of the fillet and it doesn’t break down with heat, so anything left on will tighten when it hits the grill and pull the cube out of shape. Marinating time is 30 minutes minimum or up to 2 hours in the fridge for more depth of flavour. The cook is 6-8 minutes over high charcoal heat, turning every 2-3 minutes and glazing from the halfway point. The target is medium-rare. Charcoal or a Hibachi is the right setup for the smoke and dry, intense heat, but a gas BBQ grill works fine if that’s what you have.


Ingredient Notes

Beef fillet: Fillet (tenderloin) is the best cut because it’s very low in connective tissue and cooks quickly at high heat without toughening. Ask your butcher to remove the silverskin if you prefer to start from a completely prepped piece. Other quick-grilling cuts work as more economical substitutes: flank, striploin and rump. Whichever cut you use, trim away any visible silverskin and hard sinew before cutting into cubes.


Sake: Sake is a Japanese rice wine used in cooking to add mild sweetness and a clean umami note to marinades and sauces. It also has a slight tenderising effect on beef through its alcohol content. Dry sherry is the closest substitute in terms of flavour. Mirin can also be used but it’s considerably sweeter than sake, so if you substitute with mirin, reduce the caster sugar in the marinade by about half to keep the balance.


Caster sugar: The marinade uses a high ratio of sugar to soy sauce (110g to 160ml) to balance the saltiness and to help the glaze caramelise on the grill. Caster sugar is preferred over white sugar because the finer grain dissolves more readily in a cold marinade, so the sugars are evenly distributed before the beef goes in. Brown sugar works as a substitute and adds a slightly deeper, more molasses-forward flavour to the glaze.


Equipment

  • Chopping board
  • Chef’s knife
  • Large bowl (marinating)
  • Medium saucepan (reducing glaze)
  • Sieve
  • Bamboo or metal skewers
  • Charcoal BBQ, Hibachi or gas BBQ grill
  • Tongs
Beef Kushiyaki (Japanese Skewers)

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Prep the beef
  2. Place the beef in a large bowl. Mix the sugar, soy, sake, ginger, garlic, lemon zest and juice and oyster sauce in a bowl and stir until well combined.
  3. Stir the marinade through the beef to evenly coat, then set aside for at least 30 minutes, or refrigerate for up to 2 hours.
  4. Prep the skewers
  5. Thread 3 pieces of meat onto pairs of skewers, spaced 2cm apart, finishing with 2 pieces of green onion on the end. Repeat with the remaining meat and onions.
  6. Pour the remaining marinade through a sieve into a medium saucepan. Place over a medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by one third and thickens slightly to make a glaze. Set aside.
  7. Cook the skewers
  8. Preheat a charcoal BBQ or Hibachi to high heat. Suspend the skewers directly over the coals.
  9. Cook skewers, turning every 2-3 minutes, brushing with the glaze when they are halfway through cooking time. This will take between 6-8 minutes, for medium-rare.
  10. Place a pile of steamed rice onto serving plates, then top with the skewers, pickled cucumbers, some wombok on the side and garnished with sesame seeds.

Recipe notes

Origins
Beef Kushiyaki is a Japanese street food that is believed to have evolved from the Yakitori grilling technique for chicken, then being applied to beef, once beef became more available in the 19th Century. These days it can be found sold by street vendors to high-end restaurants with varying cuts of beef and seasonings.


Cook support
Allow the time for your coals to heat up sufficiently and for even distribution of heat between the coals to ensure even cooking.


Substitutions
You can use any thick cut steak that can be cubed for this recipe, ideally a cut for quick grilling (flank, striploin, rump).


Serving ideas
You can serve this with whatever sides you prefer, such as steamed Asian greens, rice noodles, Asian style slaw, grilled potatoes.


Cooking method
If you do not have a Hibachi or coal BBQ, you can cook this recipe on a gas BBQ grill, but it will lose that smokiness to the end result.