These Beef Negimaki are the perfect portions of tender, juicy steak.
First off, we apologize to the butchers this season for featuring two recipes that entail some extra labor. Between the prep required for the Beef Carpaccio and this Beef Negimaki, you might not be too happy with us.
Lucky for the consumer, though, both of these recipes require very little steps once the meat is so nicely prepped and sliced!
Never mind the “entrees.” There’s nothing like drawing inspiration from the “appetizer” section of restaurant menus when deciding what to make for Yom Tov. From Pulled Beef Tacos to this Gnocchi with Short Rib Ragu–that’s where the creative ideas start.
And so it was with this Beef Negimaki. Beef Negimaki is a classic Japanese dish where thinly sliced marinated beef is wrapped around a scallion.
It’s great for a crowd because it really “stretches” a high quality piece of meat. For the price of one Cowboy Steak, we were able to make 24-30 skewers, with two rolls each!
What meat should I use for beef negimaki? You want to use high quality steak, such as ribeye. We asked for a piece that’s between 2 and 3 inches thick so it could yield nice, wide slices for rolling up. The butcher froze our ribeye for a bit and then sliced it on the deli slicer.
Combine all the ingredients for your marinade.
We kept it simple with garlic, lemon, honey, and soy sauce (for tenderizing) and found that it was just right–no need to get complicated here! Fresh ginger would also be a nice addition.
Add the meat to the marinade.
This doesn’t need a long marinating time. Thirty minutes is perfectly fine.
Now prepare the rollups. Add a couple of slices of meat at a time to a cutting board. Add the scallion to the end of one slice of meat and cut scallion to fit the width of the meat.
Note that we used Bodek scallions here, which are sold whole. If you’re checking your own scallions or purchasing pre-checked scallions which are taken apart, add a two or three scallion strips to the center.
Then, roll up! Use about half of the meat,
then slice off the rest of the meat to use for your next roll up. If you use the whole slice, they will be too thick. We used the white and light green parts of the scallion for the center, but the green parts will work too. Or, reserve the green parts for the garnish.
Secure roll ups with two skewers, two rolls per skewer. These Bamboo Skewers have the perfect Asian look and they’re the right size too.
These will grill really quickly on your grill pan!
You can even serve them right on a Banana Leaf, just like at the restaurant (this will make a plate of Negimaki look fuller than it is).
Cut the Banana Leaf to the size of your plate or platter.
Note that the leaves should be washed and checked.
Brush with teriyaki sauce. Although not shown, we also recommend garnishing with sesame seeds and additional chopped scallions (use the green parts that you didn’t use for the roll-ups).
Important about teriyaki sauce–not all teriyaki sauces are the same! Some are thin and runny and we don’t recommend those. Some brands of teriyaki that we like include Mikee, Natural Earth, and Soy Vey.
As far as yield, this will vary but we were able to make about 26 skewers, with two rolls each, from 1 ½ lbs of meat!
Beef Negimaki
Ingredients
- 1 (1 to 2 lbs) 3-inch thick ribeye steak, thinly sliced (ask the butcher to freeze first, and then slice for you on the deli slicer, see photos)
- scallions, as needed
- good quality teriyaki sauce, for brushing
- sesame seeds
Marinade per 1 lb meat:
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- juice of 1 lemon
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup soy sauce
Instructions
- Combine all marinade ingredients. Add meat and marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. You do not want to leave this overnight as the meat is thin and will begin to break apart if left for too long.
- Lay slices of meat on the cutting board. Add scallion and trim scallion to fit the width of the slice (see photos). Roll up until scallion is covered, using about half of the slice of meat. (You should be able to two roll-ups on average from each slice of meat. You don’t want to use the whole slice–then the rolls will be too thick. Skewer two roll-ups on each skewer (we used two skewers to hold both sides closed. Narrower rolls are fine with one skewer).
- Roll-ups can be frozen at this point if prepared ahead. Thaw completely before grilling.
- Before serving, grease a grill pan. Add skewers and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until darkened. Brush with teriyaki sauce and sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds.
- If Beef Negimaki is cooked ahead, keep in a warm spot until serving. They’re best when grilled fresh but we have also rewarmed them on top of the Crock-Pot for Shabbos morning with decent results.
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