Tarragon cherry shrub - Nekimaki
Recipe, Food-Styling, Photo & Styling:Oliver Schwarzwald
Japan Vibes
The last drink I recommended to you already had a Japanese vibe. Cherry blossom tonic and sparkling pink, a marvellous combination. Click here for the recipe.
Fittingly, the cherry season is in full swing and offers yet another culinary opportunity. Cherries, one of my favourite fruits, are incredibly versatile. In addition to chutneys and jams, they are also perfect for a shrub. Here, the full cherry flavour can unfold and the vinegar captures the summer in a refreshing way with its acidity. Things get exciting with tarragon. I know not everyone likes tarragon. But it is such an aromatic herb and simply goes perfectly with cherries. This delicate herb gives the shrub an additional, subtle flavour and a special snack that goes perfectly with this cherry shrub is "negimaki". It is also very quick and easy to prepare. Japanese negimaki consists of thinly sliced steak filled with spring onions (negi) and then rolled up. The beef rolls are then grilled or pan-fried and served with teriyaki sauce. We could make teriyaki sauce ourselves, but it takes time and we still need a few ingredients. To make it a little easier for us, I used ready-made ones. The supermarket round the corner now has a large selection.
The spring leeks inside the rolls provide a fresh, slightly spicy note that harmonises perfectly with the hearty beef. The teriyaki sauce brings a sweet and spicy component into play, which is ideally complemented by the fruitiness and acidity of the cherry and tarragon shrub.
And now the harmonious combination of sweetness, acidity and umami comes into its own. The cherry shrub with its fruity sweetness and fine acidity, which is rounded off by the tarragon. These flavours complement the hearty beef and the spicy, slightly sweet teriyaki sauce wonderfully. The acidity of the shrub also helps to balance out the fattiness of the meat and intensify the flavour, making this combination a definite feast. Convince yourselves!
Cheers Oliver
Recipe, Food-Styling, Photo & Styling:Oliver Schwarzwald
Cherry shrub with tarragon
Ingredients:
Drink base for at least 4 people
600 g fresh cherries, preferably very ripe / or frozen
400 g sugar
2 tbsp tarragon, fresh, chopped
300 ml - 500 ml vinegar
pinch of salt
Preparation:
1. wash the cherries.
2. place tarragon, sugar and cherries (with stone) in a preserving jar.
3. mash the cherries vigorously with a wooden spoon until they release their juice
4. close the jar and leave to stand at room temperature for 2-3 days
5. shake vigorously from time to time.
6. as soon as the sugar has dissolved, pour the liquid through a sieve
7. mix with a little salt and 300 ml vinegar,
8. Leave to stand in the fridge for 2-3 days and flavour again with a little vinegar.
The shrub should not be too sweet, but should not taste just like vinegar either. Over time, the shrub will become milder and can be flavoured with vinegar again and again.
To serve, pour over ice and top up with a little still water.
Recipe, Food-Styling, Photo & Styling: Oliver Schwarzwald
Nekimaki
Ingredients 4 people Appetiser:
400 g flank steak (or one of the alternatives such as fillet of beef, rump steak or ribeye)
4 stalks of spring onions (Negi)
250 ml teriyaki sauce (bought)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
Toothpicks or kitchen string
Preparation:
Cut the flank steak across the grain into very thin slices. It helps to freeze the meat briefly beforehand to make slicing easier.
Marinate the slices of meat in a bowl or large bag with 100 ml of the purchased teriyaki sauce. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (preferably 1-2 hours).
Cut the spring leeks into 10 cm pieces. Blanch the leeks briefly in boiling water and then quench in ice water to preserve the colour.
Lay each marinated slice of flank steak flat and place a piece of spring leek on top.
Roll the meat around the leek and secure the ends with a toothpick or tie with kitchen twine.
Heat a grill pan or normal frying pan over a medium to high heat and lightly oil with sesame oil.
Fry the negimaki rolls all over until they are nicely browned and the meat is cooked through. This takes about 2-3 minutes per side.
Add the remaining 150 ml of the purchased teriyaki sauce to the pan and glaze the negimaki rolls with it. Allow the sauce to reduce slightly until it thickens and coats the rolls well.
Cut the negimaki rolls into bite-sized pieces.
Arrange on a plate and add the teriyaki sauce.
Recipe, Food-Styling, Photo & Styling: Oliver Schwarzwald