Japanese Steak Bowls with Sesame Miso Sauce and Shitake Rice

We've been wanting to highlight our Japanese Sesame Miso with steak for so very long, it just works so well together.  The smokey char of a hot grilled steak cooked to perfection, accompanied by the creamy umami rich Japanese Sesame Miso Sauce on a bed of Shitake mushroom rice full of earthy flavor makes for an authentic tasting Japanese dinner.

Ingredients - can either serve as 1 steak per person (which is actually a fair amount of steak.)  Easily serves 2 if you slice steak and divide into portions for each bowl.

NY Strip Steak (1 lb steak - extra sinew and fat trimmed off)
1 Tbsp Wozz! Japanese Sesame Miso Sauce to marinade steak
1 Cup Jasmine Rice
6 oz Dried Shitake Mushrooms (about 6-9 mushrooms) rehydrated in 2 cups of water
Salad Greens
Enoki Mushrooms (optional for salad)
Endamame Beans (optional for salad)
Sesame Seeds and Chopped Chives (optional for garnish)

Wozz! Japanese Sesame Miso Dressing and Sauce for drizzling over steak and salad

Recipe

Marinate your Steak

Marinate steak with Wozz! Japanese Sesame Miso Sauce and allow to come to room temperature. I used 1 tablespoon per steak, rubbed in on both sides.  Allow to marinate for 20 minutes to 1 hour.

Prep Your Mushrooms and Make Your Shitake Rice

Soak your mushrooms.  I soaked mine overnight because I wanted the water to have as much flavor as possible but 20 minutes in cold water should be enough. (removing the stalk a little into the process of soaking can speed things up so the mushrooms soften quicker)

Squeeze excess water out of the rehydrated mushrooms into the soaking water then cut them into a small dice.  Reserve your mushroom stock water for cooking the rice.

Rinse your rice in a sieve.  Add the diced mushrooms along with the uncooked rice to a medium sized sauce pan (make sure your saucepan has a tight fitting lid) and add 1.5 cups of mushroom water.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a simmer, cook for 10 minutes with lid on.  Turn heat off, leave lid on and do not disturb for another 10 minutes.  Fluff with fork. 

*Otherwise, you can always follow package directions to cook your rice just make sure to use your rehydrated mushroom stock water in lieu of plain water for this recipe.

Sear and Rest your Steak

Get your grill pan or charcoal grill hot!

Season both sides of steak liberally with salt and pepper just prior to grilling.

Sear your seasoned marinated steak 4-5 minutes on each side for medium doneness (140-145 F internal temp).  I didn't oil my grill pan as the marinade has enough oil.  You can oil your grill pan if you desire.  After 5 minutes each side my internal temp was 135 F, but after resting it continued cooking and was the perfect medium.

After resting for 3-4 minutes, slice your steak at an angle and plate over rice finished with a little Wozz! Japanese Sesame Miso Sauce and a side of salad greens.  Garnish with sesame seeds and chopped chives if desired.

Enjoy!