Ingredients for 4 Servings

Thinly sliced beef (牛薄切り肉 / Gyū usugiri niku) 4 strips (round steak)
Burdock root (ごぼう / Gobōh) 1/4
Kintoki carrot (金時にんじん / Kintoki ninjin) 100 g
Soy sauce (しょうゆ / Shōyu) 1 1/2 tbsp
Amazake (甘酒 / Amazake) 3 tbsp
Ginger juice (しょうが汁 / Shōgajiru) 1 tsp
Powdered Japanese pepper (粉山椒 / Kona sanshō) Pinch
Sesame oil (ごま油 / Goma-abura) Small amount for frying

How to Make
1. Skin the carrot and cut it and the burdock root into sticks about 1 cm in height and width, and as long as the beef strips are wide.
2. Fill a small pot with water and bring it to a boil. Add a pinch of salt and boil the burdock root and carrot sticks for 3 minutes. Drain off the water and let these cool. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, amazake, and ginger juice to create a sauce, and set it aside.
3. Spread out a strip of beef. Place a stick of burdock root and a stick of carrot next to each other across one end of the strip. Now, place a stick of carrot on top of the burdock root and a stick of burdock root on top of the carrot. This is to produce a checkered pattern in the cross section. Roll the burdock root and carrot sticks up in the beef. Repeat for the remaining beef strips.
4. Add a bit of sesame oil to a frying pan and put the pan on medium heat. When the pan is up to heat place the beef rolls in the pan, so that the tail ends of the beef strips are down. This is to make sure the rolls do not come undone. Turn the rolls as necessary to thoroughly cook them.
5. Now, add the sauce you prepared in step 2. Continue to cook to reduce the liquid.
6. When sauce liquid is mostly gone, remove the beef rolls to a cutting board and cut them in half, so that you have 8 rolls.
7. Sprinkle a bit of powdered Japanese pepper on the cut surfaces.

What does osechi ryōri consist of?
Traditionally, households in Japan worked ahead of time to prepare foods to be eaten over the first three days of the new year. These foods are called “osechi ryōri.” Osechi ryōri is still enjoyed during the New Year holiday. The particulars of what is included in osechi ryōri differ by region, but common dishes include kuromame (sweet black beans), tazukuri (dried sardines caramelized in sugar, soy sauce, and mirin), konbu maki (herring wrapped in kelp), and shrimp dishes among other delicacies that would keep for a few days in what are known as “jūbako,” wooden boxes made to stack one upon another. In recent years, it has become common for restaurants to be open even on January 1, so a growing number of people are now purchasing osechi ryōri at a restaurant or department store.

 

 

 

 

Recipe Developed by Chef Machiko Tateno