So I haven’t quite shaken off my Build A Bowl obsession. So recently when someone suggested that I host a dinner meeting at my place I decided that it would be fun to do build a bowl for everyone especially since I had my nice new Williams and Sonoma rustic bowls to use. The only problem was that I misunderstood my parents and thought they were out when they were actually in for dinner and I was somewhat caught left footed as I didn’t have enough ingredients for 12 bowls. Plus I didn’t realize how LONG it takes to plate so many bowls given it was just helper D and I fiddling with 8 components for the bowls. Did I ever mention that I’m a bit of an overachiever? Nobody needs to put 8 separate components in a build a bowl effort.
Thankfully the guests were not new to our place (or our ways) and patiently entertained themselves while we frantically peeled and sliced avocados, seared beef and chopped salads. This beef bowl had a slightly Japanese nod – tobikko roe over the sous vide eggs and seaweed cucumber salad and cauliflower rice topped with furikake (Japanese seaweed seasoning). But I did really like this bowl as it had a series of favorite things…I mean who doesn’t like sous vide then seared rib-eye topped with truffle mushroom sauce?
Anyway the bowls were amazing – I would definitely do it again (ok, for less people). I served the bowls with a clam miso soup and everything was really umami through and through. So here are my Build-a-Bowl components:
- Sous vide ribeye topped with truffle mushroom sauce
- Romaine lettuce with wakame seaweed salad
- Sautéed king oyster mushrooms
- Sous vide egg topped with tobikko roe
- Cucumber and tomato salad with hijiki seaweed
- Broccoli with sesame seeds
- Sliced avocado
- Cauliflower rice topped with furikake
So just a note also that the actual plating of the bowl starts with the cauliflower rice in the center, then with the different components around the rice. If you have a deeper bowl it may get pretty crowded but I happened to have these nice slightly shallower bowls that could showcase all the ingredients. The slightly swish thing is also to press the cauliflower rice into a small bowl and invert on the larger bowl. Looks very nice and cheffy 😄
Low Carb Build A Beef Bowl
Ingredients
- BEEF – 3 pieces of 1 inch thick ribeye steaks – salt and pepper seasoning – 3 sprigs of rosemary, cut in half – 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced – 1 tbsp duck fat – 3 tablespoons of truffle mushroom sauce mixed with 1 tsp Bulldog tonkatsu sauce
- ROMAINE SALAD – 1 head of romaine lettuce, chopped – 100g wakame seaweed – soy sauce salad dressing
- MUSHROOMS – 3 king oyster mushrooms – 2 cloves of garlic, sliced – 2 tbsp butter – salt (about 1/2 tsp) – ground white pepper (about 1/2 tsp)
- EGGS – 6 eggs at room temperature – 2 tbsp tobikko roe
- CUCUMBER SALAD – 1 Japanese cucumber, sliced – 5 small radishes, sliced – 8 cherry tomatoes, halved – 1 small shallot, thinly sliced – 1 tbsp dry hijiki seaweed – 2 tbsp olive oil – salt and pepper seasoning
- BROCCOLI – 1/2 head of broccoli, cut into florets – 1 tsp sesame oil – 2 tsp sesame seeds – 1 tbsp salt (to salt the water for blanching)
- AVOCADO – 3 avocados, peeled and sliced – 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Cauliflower rice – 1 1/2 heads of cauliflower, cut into florets then riced – 1 onion, finely chopped – 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced – 1 tsp salt – 1/2 tsp pepper – Japanese furikake seasoning (optional) – 2 tbsp oil
Directions
- For the beef, sprinkle the steaks with sat and pepper and vacuum seal with 2-3 slices and a small sprig of rosemary on each side. Sous vide at 62 deg C for 2 hours. Remove the steaks from the bags and pat dry, strippimg off the rosemary and garlic pieces. Heat a cast iron pan over high heat and add the duck fat. Sear the steaks about 1-1.5 minutes a side. Set aside to rest, then slice into 1 cm thick pieces.
- For the romaine salad, toss the romaine salad with the soaked wakame with a little soy sauce salad dressing (not too much so the salad isnt soggy). Set aside.
- For the mushrooms, slice into 1/4 inch pieces. Heat up the butter over medium heat in a skillet and saute the garlic slices till golden and fragranr. Add the mushrooms and continue to sauté till softened. Add the salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Sous vide the eggs at 63 deg C for 45 min. Carefully crack each egg into a bowl, ready for plating. When plated, top with a teaspoon of tobikko roe.
- For the cucumber salad, slice the cucumber and radishes into thin discs. Quarter the tomatoes. Slice a small shallot into paper thin rings. Soak the hijiki in cold water for 10 minutes. Toss the cucumber, radishes, tomatoes, shallot and hijiki together with extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to the boil and salt with 1 tbsp salt. Blanch the broccoli florets for 2 minutes, then drain and place in an ice water bath to stop the cooking. Drain and toss with a little sesame oil and 2 tbsp sesame seeds. Set aside.
- Peel the avocados and slice. Toss the slices with lemon juice to prevent browning.
- In a wok, heat up the oil (I used peanut oil) to medium heat. Saute the onions and garlic for a minute, then add the cauliflower rice. Add the salt and pepper and saute for another minute or two till the cauliflower is just cooked and not soggy. Set aside.
- For plating, scoop cauliflower rice into a small rice bowl and overturn the bowl into a larger bowl to make a mound of rice. Top the rice with japanese furikake seasoning. Plate the rest of the beef, romaine salad, mushrooms, egg, cucumber salad and avocado in a ring around the rice. Seeve hot.
Still Feeling Peckish 