Pan-Fry

Beef Negimaki

by:
March 11, 2022
5
2 Ratings
Beef Negimaki
Photo by Rocky Luten, prop styling by Gerri Williams, food styling by Anna Billingskog
  • Prep time 35 minutes
  • Cook time 15 minutes
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisines, so you better believe I have had countless amounts of beef negimaki throughout my life. Beef negimaki is a beef roll, “maki,” which is made up of thinly sliced beef and blanched scallions, “negi,” which is coated with a teriyaki-like sauce. This recipe is my take on traditional beef negimaki, but nothing straying too far from the norm. It’s typically served as an appetizer, but I like to eat it as an entrée with freshly cooked short-grain white rice. I personally feel like eating beef negimaki with the white rice completes the dish because the rice is the perfect blank canvas for the sweet/salty sauce, buttery beef, and fresh herbiness of the scallions.

I tested out a couple cuts of beef slices, such as flank, ribeye, and skirt, so any of those three cuts work for this recipe, but of course, the ribeye yielded the most buttery steak flavor. In addition to the different types of beef, I also experimented with paper-thin slices (1/16 inch thick) versus thin slices (⅛ inch thick). Depending on how you like your beef cooked, rare, medium-rare, medium, etc., I would suggest the following:

-You prefer rare/medium-rare: Go with the thin sliced (⅛ inch thick) beef. This thinness keeps the beef juicy with some more texture and chew (the good kind) compared to the paper-thin slice.
-You prefer medium/medium-well/well: Go with the paper thin sliced (1/16 inch thick) beef. This thinness still keeps the beef soft but still cooked to your liking.

I have and always will be a medium-rare beef type of person, so I don't recommend cooking the beef anything further than medium, especially if you're using an expensive cut of beef like ribeye! Therefore, for this recipe, I went with thinly sliced ribeye, but again, you can customize the type of beef to your liking.

For those of you wondering how you can get the beef to be sliced paper-thin or thin, you have two options: Freeze your desired cut of beef and slice it yourself on a deli slicer (with the correct settings), or buy pre-sliced beef at an Asian supermarket. I highly recommend buying the frozen pre-sliced beef at an Asian supermarket to save on costs. The taste of the frozen versus defrosted beef is hardly noticeable, but I can guarantee that your wallet will notice. —Catherine Yoo

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • 1 small carrot (about 4 ounces), cut into 3-inch-long matchsticks
  • 10 scallions (about 4.75 ounces), cut into 3-inch pieces, plus more, thinly sliced, for garnish
  • 1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup mirin
  • 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon sesame seeds, crushed, plus more for garnish
  • 10 Angus ribeye slices (about 10 ounces), ⅛ inch thick and about 1½ to 2 inches wide
  • 1/4 cup potato starch
  • 1/4 cup grapeseed or any neutral oil
  • 2 cups cooked short-grain white rice
  • Aji nori furikake, for garnish
Directions
  1. Fill a small pot with water, add the salt, and bring to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Par-boil the carrots for 1 minute and 30 seconds, adding the scallions during the last minute to blanch. Plunge the carrots and scallions in the ice water. Once completely cooled, transfer to a plate.
  2. In a small bowl, mix the ginger, garlic, mirin, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, and sesame seeds. Set the sauce aside.
  3. Set aside at least 10 toothpicks. Arrange a slice of beef with the long side facing you. Place 4 to 5 pieces each of the carrots and scallions on one end of the beef slice perpendicular to the beef. When grouping the scallions together, be sure to include both the white and green parts. Tightly roll one end of the beef slice with the carrots and scallions inside the roll so they do not fall out. Secure by skewering the toothpick in the middle of the roll. Repeat with the remaining beef, carrots, and scallions.
  4. Place the potato starch on a small plate. Lightly coat each beef negimaki with the starch.
  5. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the grapeseed oil; swirl to coat the pan. Once the oil is shimmering, cook half of the rolls, adjusting the heat as needed, for about 1½ minutes on each side, until dark golden brown and the beef is medium-rare. You can cook the roll longer depending on how you like your beef cooked.
  6. Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour in half of the sauce. Cook, turning the rolls halfway through, for 2 to 3 minutes more, until the sauce is thickened and reduced.
  7. Transfer the rolls and sauce to a plate. Wipe out the skillet and repeat with the remaining rolls and sauce. Let cool for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the toothpick from each roll.
  8. Divide the beef negimaki and rice between 2 plates. Generously garnish with the sliced scallions, sesame seeds, and furikake.
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  • Smaug
    Smaug
  • Catherine Yoo
    Catherine Yoo
  • Lynn D.
    Lynn D.

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8 Reviews

Smaug
Smaug March 14, 2022
I haven't done this myself, but it seems to me that skirt steak or flank steak is going to work very differently than rib eye, as they would presumably be sliced with the grain (they're not really steaks) while a rib eye would be across the grain. Don't see any reason why other cuts couldn't be used- top sirloin is currently about the only affordable beef in my area, seems to me it would work better than rib eye.
 
Catherine Y.
Catherine Y. March 14, 2022
Hi Smaug-

Thank you for your comments!

I completely agree with everything you have said. I also mentioned in my recipe that it was my preference to use those mentioned cuts. “Therefore, for this recipe, I went with thinly sliced ribeye, but again, you can customize the type of beef to your liking.” So to follow up on your concerns, the world is your oyster, do whatever your heart desires!
 
Smaug
Smaug March 14, 2022
Thanks, I just wish I liked oysters better.
 
Lynn D.
Lynn D. March 13, 2022
What are the ten things we're supposed to cut in three inch pieces?
 
Smaug
Smaug March 14, 2022
Guessing scallions.
 
Catherine Y.
Catherine Y. March 14, 2022
Hi Lynn,

Thanks for looking at my recipe. I’m not sure if I completely know what the 10 things you are referring to. The only time it mentions “10” is in number 3. under directions: “Set aside at least 10 toothpicks.”

Let me know if that answers your question.
 
Smaug
Smaug March 14, 2022
When I looked at it this morning, the word "scallions" was missing from the ingredients list.
 
Catherine Y.
Catherine Y. March 14, 2022
Oops, my apologies, “ 10 Angus ribeye slices (about 10 ounces), ⅛ inch thick and about 1½ to 2 inches wide”