FEDORA |
New York, New York |
I’m crazy about fried rice. It’s like a blank canvas: you can open your fridge and with just a few ingredients make something incredibly flavorful. I traveled in Asia a little, and the best fried rice I ever had was in Vietnam, where they add all kinds of crazy stuff and there are always a lot of crunchy bits on top. Often they’ll add off-cuts of meat like chicken hearts, tongue. But I think fried rice with a beautiful côte de boeuf, or rib steak, is tough to beat, because it has a really nice fat cap on it, which replicates some of the richness that they achieve with those other cuts, which aren’t so common here.
That’s all côte de boeuf is—a cut of the beef rib. It’s the same muscle as the rib eye, but higher up, near the shoulder. Very traditional, very French—and very pricey. It’s a special cut, for a special meal. The soy butter addition I use at Fedora is borrowed from the French technique of topping steak with maître d’hôtel butter, which is simply butter with an added flavor. I use soy sauce, because soy sauce with beef is so good—think of a classic stir-fry.
Don’t be intimidated by frying the rice. It’s simple—you need a lot of heat, and you need to act quickly. (If it seems at all mysterious, there are plenty of good videos on the Internet.) If you have any leftover tongue or chicken hearts, by all means throw them in. But that’s strictly optional.
SERVES
4
LEVEL of DIFFICULTY
WORTH THE EFFORT |
REASONABLE |
EASY |
SOY BUTTER
8 oz/230 g unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp light soy sauce
Zest of 1 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
One 32-oz/910-g rib steak
Coarse salt
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp canola oil
FRIED RICE
1 tbsp canola oil
2 cups/280 g cooked but still firm sushi rice*
Generous 1 cup/140 g stemmed, brushed clean, and coarsely chopped shiitake mushrooms
1 bunch scallions, white parts chopped and green parts slivered and kept separate
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
Sriracha sauce
Sea salt
1/2 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
1. MAKE THE SOY BUTTER A DAY IN ADVANCE: Combine the butter, soy sauce, and lemon zest in a small bowl. Season with pepper and beat with a wooden spoon until well blended. Place the butter on a piece of plastic wrap and mold into the shape of a sausage. Wrap tightly and refrigerate. (Tightly wrapped, the soy butter will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.)
2. Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
3. Generously season the steak with coarse salt. In a large cast-iron skillet over high heat, melt the unsalted butter in the canola oil. When the butter starts to brown and everything’s smoking, place the meat in the pan. Don’t move it around. When the first side reaches a deep brown color—about 5 minutes—turn and brown the other side, 3 to 4 minutes. Then transfer the pan to the oven and bake for about 10 minutes for medium-rare, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the steak registers between 115° and 125°F/46° and 52°C. Transfer to a carving board and let rest while you cook the rice (the internal temperature will rise to between 120° and 130°F/49° and 54°C).
4. TO MAKE THE FRIED RICE: Heat a stainless-steel skillet or wok over high heat until it’s very hot, then add the canola oil. Add the rice and work it gently with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and fry for another minute or two. When all that starts to caramelize, add the white parts of the scallions and fry for 1 minute more, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet with the spoon.
5. At this point, you have to be quick and ready: Add the eggs, letting them cook for a moment before breaking them up with the spoon. Pour in the soy sauce, lemon juice, and honey and stir, again scraping the skillet bottom. Once the liquid is absorbed, remove the skillet from the heat. (The rice should stirfry for 5 to 6 minutes total.) Kick it up a notch with Sriracha to taste, and sprinkle the green parts of the green onions over the top.
6. If the meat has cooled too much, warm it in the oven for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, pile the rice on a platter. Carve the meat, slicing thinly across the grain on a diagonal. Arrange atop the rice. Slice the soy butter into four or five thin disks (reserve the rest for another use) and set on top of the warm meat. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on the steak. Sprinkle the juice from the lemon half and a grinding of pepper on top of all that. Serve immediately.
TIP
Serve the fried rice with sautéed greens—spinach, bok choy, or whatever looks good.
* Sushi rice is available at most supermarkets, but in a pinch, stop by a sushi restaurant and pick up a couple orders to go. Whether you make or buy the rice, it can’t be over-cooked, or it will get mushy when stir-fried.
