Wrapping one food with another is familiar, especially if meat, cheese, or vegetables make up the filling—think of ravioli, stuffed cabbage, or egg rolls. Making meat the wrapping is a nice role reversal, a neat twist that is extraordinary enough to allow a simple preparation to wow a crowd. Such is the case with the Japanese negima, in which beef is wrapped around chives or scallions, then brushed with soy sauce and grilled.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
8
1
Need to make a substitution?
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat a grill or broiler until quite hot.
Step 2
Put the meat between two layers of wax paper or plastic wrap and pound it gently until about 1/8 inch thick. Brush one side of each piece of meat with a little soy sauce.
Step 3
Cut the scallions into lengths about the same width as the meat and put a small bundle of them at one of the narrow ends of each slice. Roll the long way, securing the roll with a toothpick or two. (You can prepare the rolls in advance up to this point; cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours before proceeding.) Brush the exterior of the roll with a little more soy sauce.
Step 4
Grill until brown on all sides, a total of about 6 minutes for chicken, 4 to 5 minutes for veal or pork, 4 minutes or less for beef.
Variations
Step 5
Chives also work well as a filling, as do small amounts of lightly cooked chopped spinach or chard; cooked chopped shiitake (or other) mushrooms; julienned and lightly cooked carrots or parboiled asparagus spears.