On impulse the other day, I bought at Costco a package of very thinly sliced beef steak. It was labeled “shabu shabu”, but I ended up using it, grilled then chopped, in cheesesteak sandwiches, on nachos and in omelets.
It occurred to me that this stuff goes a long way, is very compact in volume, cooks very quickly, is economical, yet abounds in the deep, beefy, Maillard flavor I crave in beef. One steak normally has two crustable surfaces; the same steak shaved this way must have 25…er…26.
It also occurred to me that I can get my beef “fix” without having a large bolus of steak weighing heavy in my guts as it slowly digests.
What do other Onions use these ribbons of beef for?
I learned last night that, if I drape each slice on the walls of a giant salad bowl, I can season and dry them a bit without having to separate them twice.
Trader Joe’s has a similar product that I’ve used for tacos and gyros. My husband thinks the pieces are too big so he wants me to cut them up before serving which I feel is an additional level of PITAness!
I ground some of it uncooked with pork sausage for quesadillas, and for the rest of the preps, it just got chopped after grilling. Worth the minimal work, IMO.
Not so much ribbons of beef. However, when it comes to Wagyu beef, the fat content is much higher than most other type of beef, and I am perfectly fine with even 2 oz (~50 gram) of Wagyu beef. In term of the thinly sliced beef, then I do like to use a little in beef/vegetable stew and usually vegetables make up the larger portion of the dish, and the beef is to impart some flavor. An example photo:
I like Vietnamese beef salad with watercress, sliced tomatoes, onion rings. Dipping sauce is lime juice, salt and pepper. Make it every summer using thinly sliced grilled steak.
Toss all salad ingredients in lime juice, arrange beef on top. Put dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
Shabu shabu is Japanese hot pot, IIRC. Also nice. The thinly sliced meats for SEA hot pot are sold or presented in rolls and they don’t stick together.
I get beef similar to this in my meat share on occasion, and they recommend this for cheese steaks. I like to use it for Japanese gyudon, since I don’t make cheese steaks at home. I will also make either Korean style marinades, similar to bulgogi or a gochujang based, and toss them for an hour to overnight for a stir fry. Eat with rice, noodles, etc. And of course, I do use for shabu shabu/hot pot.
Your a better slicer than me, Gunga Din. I can only do them paper thin if I break out the Hobart slicer (and disassemble, clean and re-store the beast afterward), but not universally thin and evenly-sized by hand, knife and eye.
