negimaki

Japanese beef and spring onion roll-ups. Here's an easy and delicious hors d'oeuvre, or a light main dish, that can be grilled or broiled.

Makes app. 12-16 rollups

4 Spring onions
8 'Sandwich steak' slices*
3 Tbs Teriyaki sauce

Some grocers sell long strips of steak meat labeled as 'sandwich steaks'. The steaks are about 1/8-inch thick, 4-inch wide and between 6-8-inches long. If your grocer doesn't have them on display in the meat case, ask them to cut you some similarly-sized slices from a rump or sirloin roast. I've also used thinly sliced prime rib roast.

Cut each spring onion in half lengthwise, then cut each length in half into two 4-inch long pieces (a length of 'green' and a length of 'white'). Set aside.

Place each steak between two sheets of waxed paper; pound to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut each flattened steak in half crosswise (the narrower ends should be the vertical tips), so that you have eight flattened steaks.

For each steak portion, arrange two lengths of spring onion-- a 'white' with green-- across the base, or wide end, of the steak. Roll each portion tightly into a cylinder; secure each portion with toothpicks.

Preheat the grill or broiler. Dip each roll into teriyaki sauce. Grill or broil for 3 minutes. Turn over and baste each portion again with teriyaki sauce. Cook for another 3 minutes.

Take negimaki from grill or oven. Remove toothpicks and trim the ends of each portion, then cut each into 1-inch pieces. Stand each piece attractively on end on serving platter or individual plate.

If cooking as a main dish, serve with steamed white rice. Negimaki is also found on the menus of some sushi restaurants, so you could also include as part of a sushi buffet.