Method
1 Combine the mirin, sake, soy sauce, sugar, and grated ginger
in a large, shallow bowl. Place the steak in the marinade and let
marinate for at least an hour, and up to 48 hours. If marinating for
more than an hour, keep chilled until an hour before you plan to cook.
2 When ready to cook, remove steak from marinade, reserving
the marinade. Place steak on a plate and set aside. Place marinade in a
saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, or until the
marinade has reduced to a thin glaze, becoming your teriyaki sauce.
Please note that if you are concerned by the idea of reusing the
marinade after raw steak has been sitting in it, you will be boiling the
heck out of this marinade, killing anything that may have decided to
grow in it during the marinating process. Also steak isn't the same as
chicken. People eat steak raw (beef carpaccio).
Salmonella is not a problem with steak; it is with chicken. If you are
still concerned, make twice as much marinade, and reserve half to boil
down to make the sauce, using the other half as a marinade.
3 If grilling the steak, prepare your grill for high, direct
heat. If pan frying, heat a large cast iron pan on high heat. If
grilling oil the grill grates. Pat dry the steak. Rub a little olive
oil or grapeseed oil all over it. Place the steak on the hot grill or
pan. Sear for 3-5 minutes on one side, or until the side is well
browned, and turn the steak over and sear the other side. Baste the
steak with teriyaki sauce. When the steak is well seared on both sides,
remove from the heat and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
4 Notice the direction of the grain of the steak. It should
like like striations in the muscle fibers of the steak. Slice the steak
in half, following the grain of the steak so that you are slicing along
the grain. (This will make it easier to make cuts across the grain.)
Then make thin slices (1/4-inch) against the grain and on a slight
diagonal. Slicing this way will break up the muscle fibers, making this
naturally tough cut of meat quite tender.
If there are juices that run out of the steak as you cut it, add the
juices to the teriyaki sauce. There's lots of goodness in the steak
"jus" that you don't want to waste.
Arrange on a serving plate and pour the remaining teriyaki sauce over
it.
Serves 4.