Your Super Bowl Party Needs Tender Pieces of Miso Steak
A Super Bowl party without chicken wings is like an egg without salt – clumsy and not as tasty as it should be – but adding another protein is never a bad idea. The chicken is delicious, but the steak seems festive.
Serving whole steaks to a crowd of football fans is cumbersome and time consuming, but serving steaks piece by piece is easy and smart. Slicing the beef into small pieces makes it easier to serve and eat – no cutlery needed, toothpicks are fine.
Loin is the most popular steak. It’s not overly expensive and quite lean, with a distinctly meaty flavor, making it perfect for a bite-sized enjoyment. Unlike ribeye, fillets don’t have much intramuscular fat or connective tissue to break down, and are best when cooked quickly at high heat. This will help ensure that your steaks are tender and not chewy, although you don’t really need to worry about chewiness if you’re using a miso marinade.
There is magic in miso
I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: miso is an incredible one-ingredient marinade. Just apply it, let it work overnight, then wipe it off and cook the meat as usual. Miso softens the meat, giving it a nutty, slightly sweet, slightly odd “aged” flavor, making the meat taste and feel more luxurious than it actually is. (In fact, miso softens so well that I made a few “fake pieces” using chewier and cheaper stew cubes and could barely tell the chicken pieces from the real loin pieces.)
In addition to softening, miso gives the meat such a rich flavor that there is no need for any additional seasoning. Just rinse off the pasta, quickly fry the pieces in a hot pan, and then add some brown butter to make the piece so meaty, so savory, and so tender that it just might knock your wings off like your favorite football…watching squirrel.
Miso steak bites with brown butter
Ingredients (increase as needed):
- 1 pound fillet
- 1/4 cup red miso
- A little vegetable or rapeseed oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Finely chopped green onion or parsley for garnish
Trim any large chunks of fat, cartilage, or silvery skin from the steaks and cut the meat into small pieces. Don’t worry if the pieces aren’t 100% uniform. (Meat is muscle, and muscle is not 100% homogeneous.)
Add the meat and miso to a large ziplock bag and toss everything together through the bag until the pieces are evenly coated in the paste. Get as much air out of the bag as you can, then close the bag and leave the meat to marinate in the miso overnight (or up to 24 hours).
Take your best frying pan (almost any, except non-stick, will do), add about a teaspoon of neutral oil to the pan, then wipe the entire surface of the pan with a paper towel. Heat the pan over high heat until it passes the water test .
While the pan is heating, remove the steak pieces from the refrigerator, drain them in a colander and rinse the miso under cold running water. Pat the meat dry with paper towels, then fry the pieces for a minute or two on each side, long enough for them to turn dark. (Don’t worry if they look a little burnt in places. A little charring is great!) Work in batches if needed to leave at least half an inch between each piece—a crowded pan can cause the pieces to release moisture before they do. get a chance to brown, resulting in steamed steaks (which nobody wants).
Remove the pieces from the pan once they are browned on all sides and set them aside. Repeat until all your pieces are browned. Now look at your pan. He must have turned very black. You can try to clean it very quickly, or you can decide it’s a problem for Future You and get a new pot (that’s what I did). Choose something pretty to use as a serving vessel.
Heat this new skillet (or a freshly cleaned skillet) over medium heat and add the oil. Let it froth and keep heating until it turns a nice amber color and fills your kitchen with a rich, nutty flavor. Add the steak pieces and toss them into the hot sautéed butter for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and garnish with finely chopped green onions or parsley. Serve with toothpicks.