Beef carpaccio Japanese style

photography by Tamara West

With crisp, fresh vegetables and apple, this is light and refreshing first course.

Ingredients

½ cup	Lemon juice, or lime juice
400 g	Eye fillets of beef, try to get a thinner, longer piece if possible (Main)
½ cup	Light soy sauce
2 tsp	Sesame oil
2 tsp	Mirin, or sugar
1 Tbsp	Extra virgin olive oil
1	Shallot, finely chopped
1	Red chilli, finely chopped, optional
4	Baby radishes, thinly sliced
1 handful	Watercress
1	Carrot, shredded or peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
½	Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced and cut into matchsticks

Directions

1. Heat a little oil in a frying pan on medium to high heat.
2. Season eye fillet with salt and freshly ground black pepper and sear for 45 seconds on all sides, so the middle is still rare. Remove and set aside to rest (and cool) for 10 minutes. Lay a piece of plastic wrap, about an arm's length, out on the bench and wrap eye fillet up in a nice cylindrical shape, twisting the ends of the cling film to secure. Freeze wrapped eye fillet for at least 3 hours until very firm.
3. Remove plastic wrap from eye fillet and slice very thinly with a sharp knife (slice as thinly as you can). If it has been frozen overnight, allow it to thaw for 20 minutes on the bench so it is easier to slice.
4. To make the dressing, combine the lime or lemon juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin or sugar, extra virgin olive oil, shallot and chilli.
5. To assemble, lay slices of beef and radish around plates, slightly overlapping. Place a small pile of watercress, carrot and apple in the middle and spoon over a couple of tablespoons of the dressing over the beef. Serve immediately — the beef will be at the perfect temperature, it should be cold but not frozen.