Coriander-Crusted Steak with Miso Butter Sauce

December 2010 Bon Appetit, at 55

Ingredients
 
4 T      chopped cilantro (divided)
2.5 T   unsalted butter (melted)
2 T      chopped green onions
2 T      unseasoned rice vinegar
1 T      red miso
1 T      minced fresh ginger
1 t       soy sauce
1         12 oz. sirloin steak
2 t       whole coriander seeds (crushed)
1 t       sesame seed oil
2 t       sake (or dry vermouth)


I chose this recipe because I found a great sale on dry aged, bone-in rib-eye. This is the steak I bought:

I can hear you now: "oh, no, you didn't." Oh, yes. Yes, I did. This steak was over 5 inches thick, but I thought I'd cook it using the same method I'd use for a much thinner cut; a sear then a few minutes in a hot oven. I had to ... significantly extend ... the cooking time to make it work.


1) Mix half of chopped cilantro, butter, chopped green onions, rice vinegar, red miso, minced ginger, and soy sauce in small bowl. Set miso sauce aside.


This stuff did not look good. Preview: it tasted pretty awesome.

2) Sprinkle both sides of sirloin steak with cracked coriander seeds and ground black pepper, pressing to adhere.

3) Heat Asian sesame oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sirloin steak; cook to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare.

This is where I deviated from the script. I left the steak on for probably 10 minutes a side and then put it in the oven for 15. With a good enough crust or spices and enough fat in the pan, the meat won't burn.

4) Transfer steak to work surface; reserve skillet. Slice steak; arrange on plates. Add miso sauce and sake to skillet; boil mixture until slightly thickened and reduced to 1/4 cup, whisking often, about 1 minute. Spoon miso butter sauce over steaks. Sprinkle with remaining chopped cilantro.

I decided to rest the steak and serve it whole. I think this was a good choice given the quality of the meat I was working with. The downside is that the miso sauce won't get the coverage or penetration it would on sliced steak. Reserving the sauce for the side and dipping the steak works well, though.

I also opted to use dry vermouth. I forgot to chill a bottle of sake to drink with dinner and didn't want to burn a whole one for the two tablespoons needed.

How did it turn out?

The main thing seems to be that miso and butter are phenomenal together. In a future post, I'll talk about making a miso-scallion compound that could be mixed with sake for a similar effect. Honestly, the coriander crust and sesame oil added only a faint echo of Asian flavor to the dish. Common sense in choosing spice rubs and cooking fats should always be applied to match a dish's dominant flavors.

I think that this recipe is mostly replaceable with cooking intuition in that sense, but I'm glad I made because miso butter would have never occurred to me and because it serves as a good reminder that cooking media can work to compliment main foods.