ANN/THE JAPAN NEWS – Meat can give you a boost of energy and help keep you strong in hot weather. French chef Noboru Tani has shared his take on beef stroganoff, made especially refreshing and flavourful with ingredients like sour cream and pickled cucumbers.
The origins of beef stroganoff are debated, but the most likely story points to a French chef working for Russian nobleman Count Stroganov in the 19th Century.
“The characteristic feature of this dish is its use of a generous amount of sour cream, which is a common food in Russia, instead of fresh cream,” Tani said.
Tani browned slices of beef, then sauteed them with cornichons, which are small cucumbers pickled in vinegar, and added sour cream and lemon to give the dish different types of sourness.
The browned beef adds depth to the flavour of the dish.
Beef stroganoff is often thought of as stewed beef, but to bring out its best flavour, the beef is just sauteed, not stewed.
The key to this dish is handling the beef properly by browning it evenly. To do so, after cutting the slices of meat into pieces, Tani spread out each piece with his fingers and applied olive oil lightly to both sides of the meat.
If this process is skipped, the beef will take some time to spread out in the pan, causing it to cook unevenly, he said.
Placing the pieces of meat in the pan, he stirred them with a wooden spatula as they cooked.
“You should never fry them completely. Instead, you should carefully brown them,” Tani said.
When the surface of each piece was browned, he added mushrooms, which absorb the meat juices and flavour.
It is quick to cook – taking only six or seven minutes from starting to brown the meat to adding the lemon juice and turning off the heat.
The beef stroganoff tastes light, refreshing and mild. It has different types of sourness that contrast nicely with the flavour of the browned meat. The flavour becomes even richer when eaten with slightly sweet buttered rice.
PARTNER OF HALF A CENTURY
Tani uses several knives, including a paring knife, a chef’s knife and a knife for cutting thin slices, depending on the ingredients and purposes.
The knife that he uses most often is a thin-bladed type for cutting sinew. He says it is easy to use as “there is some space between it and my hand when I grip it.” He uses it for a wide range of work, such as cutting vegetables and breaking down chicken.
The blade is about 15 centimetres (cm) long, though it was 18cm when new. The knife has been his cooking partner for about half a century. “I’ve been using this knife since I was 18 years old. As it has been sharpened repeatedly, it has become about 3cm shorter,” Tani said.
BEEF STROGANOFF
Ingredients (Serves two to four):
– 400 grammes (g) thinly sliced beef
– 200g mushrooms
– 70g cornichons (or pickled cucumbers)
– 200g sour cream
– Chopped parsley to taste
– Half lemon
– Pinch coarsely ground black pepper
– 200g uncooked rice
– 50g unsalted butter
DIRECTIONS
Cut the beef into bite-size pieces and sprinkle with five grammes of salt. Lightly apply 40 grammes of olive oil to both sides of each piece.
Then, cut the mushrooms and cornichons into about five-millimetre slices. Put the butter in a pan over high heat. When it starts to melt, add the rice. Stir constantly so that the butter is absorbed by the rice. When the hot butter starts to bubble, reduce the heat to very low and continue stirring until the rice turns slightly yellow.
Add 300 millilitres of water, increase heat to medium and add 1.5g of salt. After boiling, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put a very small amount of olive oil in a frying pan and brown the beef. Add the mushrooms and saute together, and then add the cornichons. Add salt to taste and a pinch of black pepper.
Add the sour cream and stir together well. Add the chopped parsley, a pinch of grated lemon peel and a squeeze of lemon. Mix lightly and turn off the heat. Serve on a plate with the buttered rice.
