Steak Tartare
Steak Tartare is a classic French starter that is popular for a reason - with a careful balance of rich and tender beef, silky egg yolk and condiments providing texture, savouriness and acidity, it provides the perfect, flavour-packed mouthful. Buy great quality, fresh ingredients and there is no need to be afraid of recreating this elegant bistro dish at home.
Ingredients
- 280 g eye fillet steak
- 3 anchovy fillets in oil, rinsed
- 2 tsp brined baby capers, drained and rinsed
- 3 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 large egg yolks (retain whites for another use)
- 1/2 small red onion, very finely chopped (for 2 tbsp)
- 1/2 bunch Italian parsley leaves, very finely chopped (for 2 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 dashes Tabasco sauce (or hot sauce of choice)
- 4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- pinch crushed chili flakes (optional)
- sliced, toasted baguette or quality salted potato chips, to serve
Notes
- As you will be serving the beef raw, buy good quality steak from a reputable butcher or market as freshly as possible, and ensure you store it safely wrapped in the refrigerator until you use it. It is a good idea to buy a slightly larger piece of meat than you need so that you will have 280g of diced beef after you have trimmed it. Similarly, buy good quality free range eggs from a reputable source that are as fresh as possible, and store in the refrigerator. Keep your ingredients refrigerated until ready to prepare and serve.
Method
- To prepare your beef, trim of any sinew and pat dry with a paper towel. Using a sharp knife, cut beef into a fine dice. The texture of the meat is what makes this such a pleasure to eat, so it is important to make sure the pieces are cut to a uniform size - we dice ours to just under 5mm cubes. Set aside covered in plastic wrap.
- Finely chop anchovy fillets and baby capers. In a non-metallic bowl big enough for all your ingredients, combine anchovies, capers and mustard, mashing with a fork until evenly combined. Stir in one of the egg yolks. Set aside.
- Slice a 'cheek' off your red onion and very finely chop. You don't want any large pieces of onion - we chop ours into tiny dice about 3mm. Use a measuring spoon to get two tablespoons chopped onion. Wash parsely leaves (if gritty) and gently dry on a teatowel, finely chop, then measure two tablespoons chopped leaves.
- Fold diced beef, onion, parsley, oil and sauces into mustard mixture until well combined and coated. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and chili flakes if desired. Arrange in a neat (~10cm) circle about 2cm high on your serving platter and use a spoon to make a small indent in the centre. Carefully lay your second egg yolk on top of the tartare mix. Serve immediately with thin toasted baguette slices or good quality salted potato chips to scoop, stirring the second yolk through the mix at the table in front of your guests.
- In terms of temperature, you want the mix to still feel cool, but not fridge-cold, as this dulls the flavour and makes the mouthfeel less pleasant. This dish is ideally matched with a light and earthy pinot noir, or a medium-bodied red wine with fine tannins.
Australia Wide Shipping
