- Strip loin steaks are seasoned simply with salt and pepper, then seared and roasted to maintain juicy tenderness while developing a brown crust.
- A sauce made from garlic, grated onion and carrot, soy sauce, sake, and mirin adds a savory, slightly sweet finish that complements the rich beef.
- The combination of straightforward cooking and a bold sauce creates a dish that feels both elegant and accessible.
In this recipe from Top Chef alum Kuniko Yagi, strip loin steaks are seared, oven-roasted, and sliced thin, then topped with an intense garlic-sake sauce enriched with soy sauce, mirin, and sweet carrot. It comes together in just 45 minutes — put on a pot of rice before you start so it’s ready when the steak is.
Sake vs. mirin
Though they’re both Japanese rice wines, sake and mirin are not interchangeable. Used almost exclusively as a cooking ingredient, sweet and syrupy mirin adds a glossy quality to dishes. Compared to sake, it contains less alcohol, ranging from 8% to 14% ABV. Sake, which comes in six distinct styles, has a low sugar content and is much more versatile; it’s enjoyed as a drink or as an ingredient to bring savory complexity to a variety of recipes. Sake’s higher alcohol content — usually 15% to 20% — makes it a great addition to marinades, where it works to tenderize meat.
For this recipe, you’ll need three tablespoons each of sake and mirin to make the garlic-sake sauce.
Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen
- Yagi gives instructions for cooking the steak medium-rare, but feel free to cook to your preferred level of doneness.
- Though you’ll only need a small amount of sake here, don’t be shy about opening up a bottle — unlike other wines, it can last for up to a month in the fridge, depending on the type.
- Thinly slice the finished steaks against the grain and serve with steamed white rice.
Suggested pairing
Pair this steak with a bright, earthy Portuguese red.
