O/T - help me recreate this appetizer

HarryCaray · Apr 22, 2007

Went to a Japanese restaurant and got this awesome app, called "asparagus rolls." They were little pieces of asparagus (maybe 1-2", consisting of the tip and a tiny bit of stalk), with a thin slice of cooked steak wrapped around each piece. The whole thing was baked/marinated in teryaki. They were fantastic.

So I'm going to try to make those tonight, and I'm not quite sure how to go about it. I do have kitchen experience, but never tried anything quite like this. I was thinking sirloin would be the way to go for this particular dish. Do I wrap the raw steak around the asparagus, douse it in teryaki, and bake the whole thing? If so, at what temp and for how long? Or do I pan-sear the steak, then wrap it around, then bake it? Should I marinate the steak in teryaki all day, or would dumping some on each roll-up prior to baking do the trick? Perhaps they don't even need to be baked, I could steam the asparagus to al dente, and pan-sear the steak to mid-rare, wrap it up, and dump some teryaki on it.

Any thoughts would be appreciated...

TTinCO · Apr 22, 2007

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/78/Bacon_and_Asparagus_RolUps49785.shtml

G.MONEY · Apr 22, 2007

Blanch Aspargus....If you want the best use Beef tenderloin and marinate it over night.....Slice very thin and bake for about 5-7 min...Depending on How rare you want your meat...Make a nice dipping sauce maybe a lemon Mustard sauce very good....Enjoy

winbet · Apr 22, 2007

Japanese not my forte but this sounds like a twist on some of the European dishes where they dont actually use beef but smoked or cured Ham. Like Gee says put the Asparagus in boiling water for 2 Mins and cool, in a restaurant the Steak would have been marinated and fried on a very hot plate earlier in the evening. Its then sliced, wrapped around the Asparagus and Baked at 190-200c for 5 Mins. Hard to know what the sauce was as teryaki is more a marinade but any of your favourite dressings should suffice, although Standard Chefs will tell you Asparagus should be served with a mild sauce or dressing. :drink:

HarryCaray · Apr 22, 2007

TTinCO said:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/78/Bacon_and_Asparagus_RolUps49785.shtml

I actually looked at this exact recipe before I posted this thread. I am quite sure the restaurant used sirloin, not tenderloin, although the basic premise should be the same...

HarryCaray · Apr 22, 2007

G. MONEY said:
Blanch Aspargus....If you want the best use Beef tenderloin and marinate it over night.....Slice very thin and bake for about 5-7 min...Depending on How rare you want your meat...Make a nice dipping sauce maybe a lemon Mustard sauce very good....Enjoy

Wrap the meat around the asparagus and then bake?

And I already have sirloin, that's what I think they used, but I was going to pound it out thin...

HarryCaray · Apr 22, 2007

winbet said:
Japanese not my forte but this sounds like a twist on some of the European dishes where they dont actually use beef but smoked or cured Ham. Like Gee says put the Asparagus in boiling water for 2 Mins and cool, in a restaurant the Steak would have been marinated and fried on a very hot plate earlier in the evening. Its then sliced, wrapped around the Asparagus and Baked at 190-200c for 5 Mins. Hard to know what the sauce was as teryaki is more a marinade but any of your favourite dressings should suffice, although Standard Chefs will tell you Asparagus should be served with a mild sauce or dressing. :drink:

Thanks for the input. You and G both say to blanch the asparagus...I was just planning to leave it raw until it hit the oven, thinking the 5-8 minutes it spent in there would soften it sufficiently. We are talking about the tip of the asparagus here, not the stem, so I thought it would not take much to soften it.

You guys really think I need to blanch AND bake it?

xpanda · Apr 22, 2007

You want to blanch the asparagus in part to reduce baking time and help it to retain some of its moisture. Just baking the asparagus could dry it out.

winbet · Apr 22, 2007

If you stick your finger up your arse for 5 mins you will see it doesnt get soft but if you put it in a pan of boiling water for a minute. Get the gist, baking is just to heat the whole thing up, like I said, the restaurant would have already sealed the beef in its marinade earlier. Here's an easier starter.

Mix together
9 oz feta Cheese
1/2 cup curly parsley (chopped)
1 egg
1 t/s minced Garlic
1/2 t/s salt
1/2 t/s Cayenne pepper.

Cut 6 sheets of Filo pastry in 4 and fill each segment with a TB/s of the mixture, roll the filo into a cigar shape turning the ends in first, brush with a beaten egg white to close and fry in Olive oil for 1 minute a side. serve with a chillie dip. Can be left till later to cook, cover with wrap and refridgerate. :drink:

HarryCaray · Apr 22, 2007

xpanda said:
You want to blanch the asparagus in part to reduce baking time and help it to retain some of its moisture. Just baking the asparagus could dry it out.

Gotcha, thanks.

FairWarning · Apr 22, 2007

winbet said:
If you stick your finger up your arse for 5 mins you will see it doesnt get soft but if you put it in a pan of boiling water for a minute. Get the gist

:drink:

Sharp post. :lol: