Sesame Soy Steak Salad with Furikake Croutons and Pickled Chillies

Preheat the oven to 220˚C/200˚C fan.

To make the salad dressing, place your sesame seeds into a dry pan and place over a medium heat, swirling the pan constantly, until they are nice and toasted – about 3–4 minutes. Set aside.

Peel your ginger using the edge of a teaspoon and grate into a blender. Add the remaining ingredients, excluding your toasted sesame seeds, and blitz until smooth. You can also just pop all your ingredients into a jar and give it a good shake if you don’t mind a bit of texture from the ginger.

Finish by stirring through your toasted sesame seeds and adjusting the texture with a little extra water, if needed – but I’d recommend keeping this dressing on the thicker side, in case you want to use it as a noodle sauce. Store in an airtight jar or container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

To make the pickled chillies, slice your chillies into 2mm rings using a knife or a mandolin. Place the chilli slices and their seeds into a jar or airtight container.

Add the sugar, salt and vinegar and stir well. Finally, add boiling water until the chillies are just covered. Put the lid on and shake well to dissolve the sugar and salt, then label and leave to pickle for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer you leave these, the more they will mellow and build tang. Keep in the pickled liquid in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Peel and crush your garlic, using the side of a knife or a garlic crusher to turn it into a smooth paste.

Place the crushed garlic, oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil and the tamari or soy sauce into a shallow dish or plastic container and whisk to combine. Add your steaks and cover well on both sides. Set aside for 10–15 minutes to come to room temperature.

Weigh the rice into a saucepan and measure in the water. Stir through the fine cooking salt. Bring the water to a boil over a medium–high heat, then place a lid on the pot (ideally a clear one so you can see if you need to add more water at any point) and lower the temperature to medium. Allow this to simmer until the rice is cooked – roughly 25 minutes. (Simply add more water if it dries out and isn’t fully cooked.)

Slice your bread of choice into chunky croutons and place in a roasting tray. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, a generous pinch of sea salt and 2 teaspoons of the furikake seasoning. Mix well until your croutons are nicely coated. Pop into the oven for 5 minutes, give them a shake, then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until nicely golden and crunchy (if using bao buns, toast for 3–4 minutes total).

Meanwhile, place your green beans in a sieve and pop it beneath the lid of your rice pot while the rice is still cooking to steam the beans for 2–3 minutes. Remove and run under cold water to stop the cooking, then set aside.

Top and tail the radishes and cut into halves or quarters, depending on their size. Place in a bowl of cold water to crisp up.

Now all your vegetables and croutons are ready, heat a dry frying pan over a high heat. Once really nice and hot, use tongs to place your steaks into the pan, pressing down for a second to help them caramelise. Leave the steaks to cook on one side for 3 minutes before flipping over for rare, or 5 minutes if you would like them medium. Spoon a couple of teaspoons of the leftover marinade over the steaks and cook for a further 3 minutes for a rare steak, 5 minutes for medium Remove from the pan and drape over an upside-down cereal bowl on a lipped plate (to allow the juices to run out without them going everywhere). Allow both steaks to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

While they rest, cover your serving platter or plates with pea shoots, watercress or rocket, and gently spoon over your rice. Sprinkle over the green beans, radishes and half of the croutons. Dress with 3 tablespoons of Sesa-Miso Dressing.

Slice your steaks into 2cm-thick slices, going against the grain of the meat. Sprinkle the slices with the remaining 1 teaspoon of furikake seasoning. Lie your steak slices over your salad and top with the remaining croutons and the Pickled Chillies. Finish with some coriander leaves, the lime juice and another 3 tablespoons of your Sesa-Miso Dressing.