This Asian Steak is outrageously good yet ridiculously simple. A magical 5 ingredient Asian Steak sauce inspired by the great Tetsuya that will have you doing the happy dance and licking the plate – possibly both at the same time!
This is the sort of dish that posh modern Asian restaurants charge a small fortune for. And it’s on the table in 15 minutes!
If you haven’t tried an Asian steak before, you’re missing out! Here in Australia, Asian steaks are often a signature dish at modern Asian restaurants. A small piece of high quality, juicy, super tasty Aussie beef steak served with a sauce loaded with umami*, Asian style steak sauces have become all the rage in the culinary world – with good reason. Because, quite simply, they are so darn good (and so darn easy to make). ☺️
Just like with Western steak sauces, you can get real fancy with Asian Steak sauces, using gourmet ingredients. But you can also make unbelievably fancy tasting Asian Steak sauces using just a handful of simple ingredients that you probably already have in the pantry if you regularly make Asian food. It’s just about knowing which ones to use and how to use them. When done right, the sauce is the perfect partner to the delicious flavours of steak – yumm!!
And today I have for you an Asian Steak served with a Japanese butter sauce which is inspired by Tetsuya, a famous Japanese-Australian Chef and a personal idol.☺️
*Food nerd alert: Umami is the 5th taste sensation along with sweet, salty, sour and bitterness, it means savouriness. So, for example, a stir fry sauce made with just soy sauce tastes flat and bland. Add oyster sauce, sugar and cooking wine and voila! We have a simple stir fry sauce that tastes fab with plenty of umami!
For me, weekends are about foods cooked loooong and sloooow, like Guinness Stew and Ragu. But during the week, I dig into my arsenal of fast recipes. And regular readers know that just because something is quick to cook, it doesn’t mean compromising on flavour and quality. You can make incredible meals in 15 minutes just by being clever with the cuts you pick – quick-cook cuts of beef (such as tenderloin, rump or sirloin) that benefit from just a few minutes on a hot pan are ideal!
And honestly, let’s face it. Steaks make people happy.
Certainly makes me happy. ❤️
Today’s recipe is all about the way both the sauce, served with a small but high quality piece of beef steak, perfectly compliment each other – that’s the Asian way! 🙂 I used a beautiful tenderloin from my local butcher. <– Smaller piece of a better steak!
And don’t forget great value secondary cuts like flank, skirt, bavette / sirloin tip (read more about that in my Steak Sandwich recipe, I’m obsessed!). These cuts are “all the rage” at the moment, prized for their flavour. For better value cuts like these, serve them in slices, cut across the grain, so every mouthful is incredibly tender.
I rang my mother earlier today to tell her about this recipe, and when I told her what was in the sauce, she immediately said “that’s a classic Japanese combination”. Soy sauce, Mirin and Japanese sake is the flavour base of this sauce which is like the holy trinity of Japanese cooking.
Just combine these with butter and watch in amazement as it transforms in less than 1 minute into a glossy thickened sauce. Add a touch of garlic and/or ginger, a bit of shallots or chives if you have it, pour it over the steak and be prepared to swoon at your first bite.
15 minutes.
5 ingredients.
Food so good, you’ll want to do the jiggy. <– Though you do not want to see me do that!!??????
I really hope you try this one day! – Nagi x
PS To serve a larger group, make this with a beef tenderloin instead of individual steaks and serve the sauce on the side. Just ensure you make the sauce using the same skillet the tenderloin is browned in and make it while it is resting. Full directions in the recipe!
PPS My mother “owns” the Japanese recipe space now that she has her blog RecipeTin Japan, but I’m still “permitted” to do modern Japanese recipes like this one!!
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Asian Steak
Ingredients
- 2 beef tenderloin steaks, around 150g/5oz each (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or other neutral cooking oil)
Sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce, all purpose (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp Mirin (Note 3)
- 3 tbsp cooking sake (Note 3)
- 45g/3tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp ginger, minced (can exclude)
- 3 tsp shallots/scallions (green part) or chives, finely chopped
Instructions
- Take the steak out of the fridge 20 minutes prior to cooking (or 10 minutes if it's a stinking hot summer day).
- Combine soy sauce, Mirin and sake in a small bowl.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat until smoking. Add steak and cook to your liking. Mine were 150g/5oz each and 3cm/1.25" thick and I cooked it 3 minutes on the 1st side and 2 minutes on the second side for medium rare.
- Transfer steak onto a plate and cover loosely with foil. Rest for 5 minutes.
- Let the skillet cool down a bit then return to the stove over medium high heat. Add Sauce and bring to simmer, then add butter. When the butter melts and is incorporated into the sauce, immediately remove it from the stove.
- Stir through garlic, ginger and 2 tsp of shallots (reserve rest for garnish), the sauce should be slightly thickened (if not, keep stirring, thickens more as it cools).
- Place steak on plates and spoon over sauce. I served the steaks with finely shredded cabbage without dressing (very typical Japanese side) and white rice, plus some edamame on the side.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Asian Steak recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
Can you just imagine the thoughts running through that furry head seeing those juicy beef steaks…..???
IF YOU LIKED THIS RECIPE, TRY THIS!
15 Minute Japanese Beef and Soba Bowls with Green Beans
Today’s recipe is brought to you in partnership with You’re Better on Beef, celebrating Australian beef. Because Aussie beef rocks, it’s perfect for super quick dinners and we should eat more of it!!
Sauce was excellent. My husband said he could use it on just about anything.
Oh my… what’s not to love ❤️
This was a fabulous romantic dinner for 2 recipe ….
Hubby thinks I’m amazing but the real superstar is you Nagi….
Love love love your recipes 😍
All my wife & I can say is “Yum Yum”. Simple & quick to prepare; this is now in our favourite recipe cycle.
This recipe is so good, I fixed it twice in one week! I’ve never done that before! Everyone loved getting to have it again!
I’ll fix this for company as well!
This was absolutely delicious! I cook East Asian dishes on a regular basis and to be honest, I wasn’t too excited about the soy sauce-mirin-sake (or Chinese cooking wine, in my case) mix, as it’s a typical combination in East Asian cuisine and I already knew what that would taste like. But the butter! It’s not something I usually encounter in Asian recipes, and it definitely adds a different kind of flavor. One of the best fusion recipes I’ve tried — and very easy to make too!
Rave reviews from family, even the non-communicative son! Thanks for another great recipe!!
I wanted to cook something differant for Christmas day, I made the sauce today as a trial with a small T Bone steak.
Yep you were right, I did lick the remaining sauce off the plate. Because I seem to need heat in everything I eat (i put paprika on my cornflakes) I added a light sprinke of hot paprika into the sauce.
I will be serving this on Rump medallions Christmas day, my critics (kids) will be blown away. Thankyou and have a merry xmas.
This recipe was excellent! It was simple to make but looks so elegant!
Hi Nagi. You are absolutely incredible with your knowledge of flavours and amazing recipes. With your Asian steak recipe, what sides would you recommend other then rice? I love rice, but my family doesn’t. Thank you
Try my asian side salad or some steamed greens! N x
Thank you for the quick reply! Steamed greens for sure! Do you think mash potatoes would work to some up the dressing as alternative for rice for the kids?
Hi Nagi! I just discovered your blog and it is AMAZING!!! I love how detailed your instructions are, plus the videos! I made this Asian Steak recipe yesterday and it received RAVE reviews. Absolutely delicious. I am so excited to try out more of your creations!! 🙂
This steak was fantastic! We sliced it into strips, spooned over the sauce and served it in your banh mi in place of the pate/cold cuts. Ridiculously good.
YUUM!!!
Sauce was AMAZING! My filets were rare with 3 minutes per side, but they were pretty thick. I threw them back into sauce after it was sauce was done to cook to med rare, I, think that added to flavor. I did salt and pepper steaks before cooking. Definitely double sauce if making rice because it is that good and you will want it to spoon over!
Glad to hear you enjoyed this Kris!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂 N x ❤️
WOW. This was ridiculously good. Tasted exactly like the steak at our local teppanyaki restaurant.
The key is really good steak. All the condiments purchased from my local Woolies.
So glad you enjoyed this Renai!!
We made this tonight and it was FANTASTIC .. another great recipe. Thank you so much, NAGI!!
Awesome! Love hearing that Brooke! N xx
OMG – This was absolutely AMAZING! The sauce was so decadent. I tripled the sauce and used it as an extra dressing to the Asian Salad I served it with. I wish I had made rice with it as well – but was cutting back on carbs. Thank you sooo much for this recipe. I KNOW it will become a regular sauce when I have filets!
Hi Nagi, made this one tonight. We had rump on hand but it was so delicious. Also paired with your Asian vermicelli salad. It was declared a big hit by all the family. Thanks 😀
Asian steak is very delicious. Thanks for sharing about it. This recipes is very easy to understand.
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Robert!! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Yes thanks so much Nagi. I am very enjoy read this site.
Made this last night, but for pan roasted duck breasts rather than steak: drained off most of the fat, but left the lovely juices in the pan – so simple and so tasty – absolute favourite now, will use it often. Our dog looked every bit as pained as Dozer when we finished every bite!
😂 The visions of your dog gagging for the steak he never got!