I cooked: Wagyu Beef Teriyaki

Being able to cook for my parents and share good food with them gives me great satisfaction. Whenever I get the chance, I will cook them a nice meal. My parents are particularly fond of teriyaki sauce so since I can now make my own teriyaki sauce, I bought two pieces of Australian Wagyu steak to make beef teriyaki for them.

Round steak is a non-premium cut, but because it comes from the Wagyu breed, it has a small (decent) amount of marbling. This cut of meat is flavorful and tender at the same time. For me personally,I would prefer to buy a non-premium cut from a Wagyu breed than a premium cut from say Black Angus. 

After lots of experimentation, my favorite method for cooking steaks now is using Heston Blumenthal's "Perfect Steak Recipe". Using Heston's method, one has to flip the steak every 15-20 seconds and repeat this to the desired doneness. According to Heston, "by flipping the meat every 15–20 seconds, the steak will develop a crisp flavoursome exterior without being overcooked in the centre." It's very true, the steak is perfectly cooked all the way through and I can get the crusty exterior that I like.

The teriyaki sauce is added to the pan 1 minute before the end of cooking time (ie added at 3 minutes, for a medium rare steak) and allowed to boil to a viscous consistency. Do remember not to overboil the sauce (ie do not use very high heat) as the sauce will harden when cooled.  (like caramel). So, use a medium high heat after adding the sauce. It is also important to remember to rest your steaks, for at least 10 minutes, to allow the juices to spread evenly. While waiting for the steaks to rest, I made my parents this scallops with sauteed mushrooms and truffle oil (adding zest of 1 lime towards the end of cooking time) which they enjoyed immensely.

Nods of approval, with pieces of steak moving swiftly into their mouths tells me that they enjoyed the beef teriyaki that I made them. I was really happy with the results too, as the beef was very juicy. This will make an excellent quick meal (for both lunch and dinner) as it only takes 5 minutes to prepare/cook and another 10 minutes to rest.

Nice marbling

Beef teriyaki
Recipe adapted from No Recipes and Heston Blumenthal
Preparation time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 4 minutes
Serves 3

Ingredients
2 Australian Wagyu steaks (I used round steaks, approx. 320g)
2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp sake
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs of parsley, to garnish


1. To make the teriyaki sauce, combine the brown sugar, mirin, sake and soy sauce in a small bowl and stir to combine.

2. Clean the steaks under running water and pat dry with kitchen towel before searing to get a nice crust. Season both sides with pepper and rub with 1/2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. (Do not season with salt at this point to avoid drawing the juices out from the steak)

3. In a large frying pan over high heat, add 1/2 tablespoon oil and wait until the pan/oil is smoking hot. Place the steaks in the pan, and start your timer. Depending on thickness of the steak (this guide is for 1 inch thick steak), the timings are 2 minutes each side for medium rare, 3 minutes each side for medium and 4 minutes each side for well done. Every 15-20 seconds, flip the steak. Repeat this, turning the steaks for 3 minutes for medium rare as you will need to continue cooking your steak in Step 4 for 1 minute (total of 4 minutes for medium rare). 

4. Pour the teriyaki sauce into the pan with the beef, and let it boil over medium high heat. Flip the steaks over repeatedly until the teriyaki sauce is very viscous and coats each steak in a thick shiny glaze, about 1 minute. Remove steak from pan and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes. 

5. Thinly slice the steak across the grain with a sharp knife. Drizzle the remaining teriyaki sauce onto the sliced steaks and serve. Garnish with a sprig of parsley and season steaks liberally with salt.

Scallops with sauteed mushrooms (recipe here)

Full set of photos can be viewed on my Facebook page here. 

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's FB page on 3 December 2012.