Dashi Butter Basted Steak Recipe · i am a food blog (2024)

FAQs

What is the best butter to baste steak with? ›

Use quality butter. European and cultured butters often have a slightly higher fat percentage, and that's a good thing (so they actually have flavor, not merely a greasy mouthfeel).

Using a larger, thicker steak (at least one and a half inches thick and weighing between 24 and 32 ounces) makes it easier to achieve good contrast between the crust on the outside and the tender meat within. Basting it with butter both deepens the crust on the outside and helps the steak cook more quickly.

The concept of this umami butter is to enhance the brininess and sea-flavors of the oysters, adding a little richness with the butter. I call it Dashi butter, because it has the two main ingredients that create Japanese Dashi broth – seaweed and bonito.

Craving a grilled steak but don't have a grill, or can't fire it up during the winter months? Bring out the cast iron skillet and butter! By basting (spooning hot butter) your steak on a hot skillet, you'll get an evenly seared, golden-brown crust.

Translates “to baste” and is simply a method of tilting. your pan while spooning melted butter and fat up and. over your food.

Is it better to pan fry steak in butter or oil? A well marbled steak actually has enough fat in it that you don't need to put any extra oil or butter in the pan. For leaner cuts, use a fat with a high smoke point such as peanut or grapeseed oil, or clarified butter, depending on your taste preferences.

Umami – The Key

A single word holds the key to the magic of dashi – umami. In 1908, Prof. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial University discovered a taste in kombu dashi not accounted for by any combination of the basic tastes of sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. He identified the source of this taste as glutamate.

Although the standard dashi recipe involves soaking kelp for hours before simmering it briefly in heated water to extract its flavour, many eateries depend on Hondashi, a commercial-quality dashi powder containing monosodium glutamate, to add taste to their dishes.

According to a professional chef who spoke to Taste of Home, steakhouses use lots of butter in their cooking, often slathering it over pieces of meat even when the use of butter is not indicated anywhere on the menu. Butter—especially clarified butter—can add taste and even improve the glossy look of a cooked steak.

How do restaurants tenderize steaks? ›

Aging: Many fine restaurants age their beef to enhance flavor and tenderness. Aging involves letting the meat sit in controlled conditions for several days or weeks [2]. This process intensifies the natural flavors and breaks down the connective tissues, resulting in a more tender steak.

Because you're cooking the meat from below and also above by spooning the hot fat over it repeatedly, it will cook faster than if you were to sear it without the basting procedure.

You can buy compound butter at the store, but it couldn't be easier to make it at home.

Add butter, rosemary, and garlic to skillet, tilt pan toward you so that butter pools on one side, and use a large spoon to continually baste steak with butter. Continue until butter is no longer bubbling and it smells nutty and is beginning to brown, about 1 minute.

The key to next-level steak flavor is butter (the answer to every question is always butter). Spooning melted unsalted butter, thyme, rosemary, and garlic over the meat for about 30 seconds ensures a richer flavor and more sophisticated crust as the butter mixture and steak juices mingle.

Sear first in oil and then add butter.

Waiting to add the butter until the steak has been seared for about 4 minutes helps prevent it from burning.