Wasabi Wagyu Steak
Recently - Cooked with Harry From Fire to Fork
Prep Time: 5 minutes, plus 30 minutes to bring the steak to room temperature
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2
If you had told me ten years ago to eat wasabi with my steak, I honestly would have looked at you like you had two heads. But after living in Japan and diving deeper into Japanese food over the years, it has become one of my favourite ways to eat a really good piece of beef.
Wasabi and wagyu are a match made in heaven. Wagyu is incredibly rich, so a heavy, creamy sauce can easily overwhelm it. Fresh wasabi does the opposite — its clean heat cuts through the richness of the fat without taking anything away from the beef.
While travelling around Australia, the hubby and I would occasionally buy a beautiful piece of high-grade wagyu to share. I think a lot of people walk past wagyu because of the price, but the thing is, you really don't need much. It's so rich that even the smallest mouthful is bursting with flavour. A beautiful 150–200g steak can easily become a meal for two.
A Little About Wagyu
Wagyu is prized for its marbling — the fine ribbons of intramuscular fat running through the meat.
In Japan, beef is graded using both a yield grade, from A to C, and a quality grade from 1 to 5, with marbling assessed separately using the Beef Marbling Standard (BMS) from 1 to 12. An A5 steak represents the highest combination of yield and meat-quality grades.
Australia has its own grading systems, and you'll commonly see wagyu sold with a marble score. As a simple rule, the higher the score, the richer the steak.
Australian wagyu also has a fascinating connection to Japan. Wagyu genetics began making their way out of Japan in the late 20th century, allowing Australian producers to develop their own wagyu herds. Today, Australia produces some exceptional wagyu.
Everyone has a different preference when it comes to marbling. For this recipe, I like marble score 5 or above — rich enough to be special without needing a huge piece of meat.
Ingredients
- 150–200g high-quality wagyu steak, marble score 5+ recommended
- 30g fresh wasabi
- Sea salt, to serve
- Freshly ground black pepper, optional
- Small piece of trimmed wagyu fat, or a little butter for the pan
Method
1. Bring the wagyu to room temperature
Remove the steak from the fridge around 30 minutes before cooking, depending on its thickness.
2. Prepare the fire
Prepare your coals and place the grill grate over the fire. Set a cast-iron skillet on the grate and get it nice and hot.
For highly marbled wagyu, I prefer a skillet rather than cooking directly on the grill. There's a lot of beautiful fat in this steak, and I don't want it dripping into the fire and causing flare-ups — I want the beef cooking in all that goodness.
3. Prepare the pan
Trim a small piece of fat from the wagyu and rub it around the hot skillet until it begins to render. If you don't have enough excess fat to trim, use a small amount of butter instead.
Season the steak very lightly with salt. You can add a little black pepper if you like, but don't overdo it. The steak is the star here, so let it shine.
4. Sear the wagyu
Place the steak into the hot skillet and sear for approximately 3–4 minutes per side, depending on its thickness and how you like it cooked.
Wagyu loves high heat and a good crust, but because steaks vary considerably in thickness, use the timing as a guide rather than a rule.
5. Rest
Remove the steak from the skillet and allow it to rest for around 5 minutes.
6. Prepare the tasting board
Place a small pile of freshly grated wasabi and another of good sea salt onto a serving board.
Slice the wagyu into strips across the grain. I like them around 2–3cm wide — substantial enough to really appreciate the texture of the beef.
7. Eat
Take a piece of warm wagyu, add just a touch of wasabi and then a little sea salt.
That's it.
No heavy sauce. No complicated dressing. Just beautifully marbled beef, fresh wasabi and salt.
Food heaven with every bite.
To Serve
This pairs beautifully with my Japanese Cabbage Salad in The Slow Road Cookbook
The Slow Road Tip: If you can get your hands on fresh wasabi root, grate it just before serving. Its flavour is softer, fresher and more aromatic than prepared wasabi, and with a steak this good, keeping everything simple is the whole point.
We have two episodes featuring Wagyu Steak. Japan under Mount Fuji and With Harry from Fire to Fork in Canada.