New Style Sashimi... my adaptation of a Nobu classic

So, I posted about my experience eating at Nobu, NYC. Like I said, some of the dishes were stellar. Since I couldn't find any of Daniel Boulud's books at the local B&N, I ended up bying Nobu, the Cookbook to see about trying different things.

I tried the Toro Tartare... good, but the sauce wasn't balanced without the caviar (I don't just have caviar lying around the house... duck fat maybe, but not caviar). The wasabi-pepper-soy sauce was a tad on the sweet and oily (read: butter) for the toro IMO.

The new style sashimi, on the other hand was rocking. For those of you unfamiliar with Nobu's cooking, new style sashimi is a dish where the sashimi is dressed with soy and citrus juice on a plate, then hot oil is poured over it effectively searing it. I first tried it with hamachi, which worked great. I love having a Japanese market within 3 miles of my house which sells things like hamachi and toro on a regular basis.

What I tried last night, however, was REAL good, and different. I got some fresh BISON tri-tip and used that for the new style sashimi. It was melt in my mouth and amazing. I blowtorched the outside of the bison meat block (cut into "saku" shape to be able to cut sashimi like slices out of it) to seal in the outside and to give it a slightly "charred" taste. Basically, at this point, if I sliced and served the meat, it would be a "Tataki" in Japan, a technique often used for Wagyu beef, and Bonito.

I went the extra step here, and put the seared bison saku in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill and firm up. Cut usuzukuri slices out of it (note to self: practice more Japanese knife skills -- I'm just not good enough it seems), season, and serve.

Here's my recipe.

New Style Sashimi of Bison

Yield: 2 servings

1/2 pound of Bison sirloin or filet

1 TBLS soy sauce
1 TBLS yuzu* juice

2 Cloves garlic, grated finely
1 TBLS toasted white Sesame seeds
Ginger, cut into hair-like threads
Chives, cut to 3/4 inch length

2 TBLS Fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 ts Toasted Sesame Oil

* Yuzu can be substituted with lemon, although the fragrance won't be the same. If you can't get the fruit or the juice, you can also omit the soy here and use a commercial Yuzu Ponzu, available in your neighborhood Japanese/Asian market, or get dried Yuzu peel and sprinkle it over the dish with the lemon juice.

Sear Bison meat with a blow torch, or over an open flame just to slightly char the outside. Wrap in plastic and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Cut Bison into paper thin slices and arrange on serving plates. Top each slice with a dot of garlic paste, a few slices of ginger, a couple chives, sprinkle the sesame seeds all over. Just before service, pour the soy-citrus mixture over the plate to season it.

Heat the combined oils in a small pan until smoking, then quickly and carefully pour over the sliced meat. It should sizzle and smell mighty good.

Serve immediately.

Happy Cooking!