Yuk-sasimi (Plain Sliced Raw Beef)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Very sharp slicing knife
• •Clean nonporous cutting board
• •Chilled white plate or stainless plate
• •Instant-read refrigerator thermometer, optional

Instructions

1. 1

   Buy the beef

   Buy the beef the same day you serve it from a butcher who will sell a whole-muscle cut specifically for raw eating. Ask for lean, bright beef with a clean smell and tight grain, not ground meat, not stew meat, and not a package with pooled liquid. Keep it below 4C from the shop to your refrigerator. This is the step that decides the dish.

   If the butcher hesitates when you say it will be eaten raw, cook something else tonight. Technique cannot rescue unsafe meat.
2. 2

   Chill the setup

   Put the serving plate in the freezer for 15 minutes. Chill the beef in the freezer for 20 minutes, just until firm at the edges, not frozen solid. Cold beef slices cleanly and spends less time in the danger zone. Wash your hands, use a clean nonporous board, and keep this board only for the raw beef while you work.

3. 3

   Trim cleanly

   Pat the beef dry with paper towels. Do not rinse it. With a sharp knife, trim away any dried surface, sinew, silver skin, or discolored edges, removing about 1 to 2 millimeters where needed. Whole-muscle beef carries most risk on the outside, so clean trimming matters here more than decoration.

4. 4

   Slice across grain

   Find the direction of the muscle grain, then slice across it into pieces about 5 millimeters thick, 4 to 6 centimeters long, and easy to lift with chopsticks. Keep the slices thick enough to chew, not shaved thin like bulgogi and not minced like yukhwe. Lay them flat as you cut, and return the plate to the refrigerator if the beef starts to soften.

5. 5

   Mix the dips

   For sesame-salt dip, stir together 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, and the black pepper if using. The salt should sit visible in the oil so each person can touch a slice to it. For ssamjang dip, loosen 2 tablespoons ssamjang with 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Keep both dips small. The beef is the dish, and the dip is only a door into it.

6. 6

   Plate and serve

   Arrange the beef on the chilled plate in a loose fan or overlapping rows, with pear, garlic, and green chili on the side if using. Serve immediately with the sesame-salt oil and ssamjang. Eat it cold, one slice at a time. Do not leave it out for more than 30 minutes, and do not save leftovers from a raw beef plate.

   Raw beef is not for pregnant people, very young children, older adults, or anyone immunocompromised. That is not fearfulness. It is respect for the people at the table.

Chef Tips

• •The safest home version starts with a whole-muscle cut, not pre-sliced meat. Slice it yourself after chilling, because every extra surface and every extra hand adds risk.
• •Top round and eye of round give the clean, lean chew many Korean butchers use for raw beef. Tenderloin is softer and easier to find, but it has less character. Both work if the sourcing is right.
• •Keep the dipping salt measured. For 2 tablespoons sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon fine salt gives enough seasoning without making every bite taste like salt first.
• •Pear is optional, but useful. Its crisp sweetness clears the mouth between bites, which is why it belongs beside the beef rather than mixed into it here.
• •Freezing can help with some parasite concerns, but it does not make unsafe beef safe. Freshness, clean trimming, cold handling, and a trusted butcher still come first.

Advance Preparation

• •Do not slice yuk-sasimi ahead. Buy, chill, trim, slice, and serve the same day, as close to eating as you can manage.
• •The dips can be mixed up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Bring the sesame oil dip back to cool room temperature so it pours easily.
• •The plate can be chilled 15 to 30 minutes ahead. Pear batons can be cut 1 hour ahead and held in cold water with a pinch of salt, then drained well before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 145g)