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I Am... Dashi Butter Basted Steak Recipe

July 27, 2016 • 12 comments • Posted in: dashi, steak

I know I'm a broken record, but wow, it's August already? Remember when you were a kid and summer vacation seemed to stretch out forever?! I don't know if it's getting older or if it's just that we don't have back to school as a time marker anymore, but I feel like time is just flying by. I guess it's also because we've been doing so much. This summer has been full of camping (complete with morning fires and pour over coffee) as well as a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I absolutely loved it. We had butterbeer, I tried my hand at some spells with Hermione's wand, and we ordered off the kids menu because mac and cheese and chicken strips for life. Sometimes it's easy to forget, in the day-to-day of it all, how lucky I am to have found my person. Mike indulges me way too much and I have to admit, I take it for granted way too often – just like that Drake song I'm obsessed with. I'm trying to be better about it because I really am the luckiest I can be. Who else would go to Harry Potter with me and eat mac and cheese and wait around in the hot hot heat while I try for the millionth time to do the spells that were created to be successful for 4 year olds? So, in efforts to show Mike a bit more "hey, I love you, please stay with me forever," I made him a steak because nothing says I love you like red meat. I did up a dashi butter basted flank steak on top of a bed of buttery mashed potatoes and it was absolute magic. Maybe even as magic as Mike taking me to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter? ;)

Dashi Butter Basted Steak Recipe makes 1 steak prep time: 5 minutes plus overnight to marinate active time: 15 minutes total time: 20 minutes Dashi and butter are a classic combination, at least in my kitchen. The deeply savory umami of dashi pairs perfectly with the richness of butter. Here I used dashi powder – you can find it at your friendly local Asian grocery store or on amazon.com.

Marinade

• 1 tablespoon oil
• juice 1/2 lime
• 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dashi powder
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 lb flank steak

To Finish

• 2 teaspoons dashi powder
• 2 tablespoons room temperature butter
• oil, for the pan
• sliced green onions, to garnish
• mashed potatoes, or rice, as a side

Whisk together the oil, lime juice, soy, dashi powder, and generous amount of pepper in a shallow dish. Add the steak, and flip to coat in the marinade. You can also put this in a ziplock bag. Marinate overnight if possible, or at least for 6 hours. When ready to cook, mix together the dashi powder and butter. Set aside. Heat up a cast iron pan over high heat. Add a touch of oil to the pan, spreading evenly. When it's shimmery and on the verge of smoking, add the steak and cook, leaving it untouched for 2-3 minutes. Flip and add the butter dashi mix. Tilt the pan (using an oven mitt if needed) and use a large spoon to scoop the melted dashi butter over the top of the steak, turning down the heat to medium if needed. After 2-3 minutes, remove the steak from the pan and let rest. Slice on a diagonal, against the grain. Top with a generous amount of sliced green onions, on top of a bed of mashed potatoes (or rice!). Note: I winged the mashed potatoes, but the were one of the best batches I've made, probably because I took the time to force them through a sieve – I didn't have a ricer on hand but to be honest, the sieve method yields fluffier, smoother potatoes.