Hayashi Rice

Ingredients

• 500 g beef sirloin or rump, sliced 3 mm thick
• 3 large onions, sliced thinly
• 200 g button mushrooms, sliced
• 50 g butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 150 ml red wine
• 500 ml beef stock
• 300 g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp double cream
• 800 g hot cooked short-grain rice
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Before you cook

• Slice the beef as thinly as you can, freezing it for 20 minutes first if that helps.
• Season the beef with half the salt and pepper.
• Slice the onions thinly from root to tip.
• Slice the mushrooms.
• Chop the parsley.

Steps

1. Heat a wide heavy pan over high heat with the oil.
2. Sear the beef in two batches for 1 minute each, just to colour the outside, then lift it onto a plate.
3. Lower the heat to medium and add 30 g of the butter to the same pan.
4. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until they collapse to a deep golden brown.
5. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until their liquid has evaporated.
6. Add the remaining butter and let it melt.
7. Scatter the flour over the vegetables and stir for 2 minutes, until it smells nutty and no white specks remain.
8. Pour in the red wine and scrape the base of the pan hard with a wooden spoon.
9. Let the wine bubble for 2 minutes, until it has reduced by half.
10. Add the beef stock a ladleful at a time, stirring smooth after each addition.
11. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, sugar and bay leaf.
12. Simmer gently uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon.
13. Return the seared beef and any resting juices to the pan.
14. Simmer for 3 minutes more, just to heat the beef through without toughening it.
15. Fish out the bay leaf and season with the remaining salt and pepper.
16. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the cream.
17. Spoon the rice onto one side of four warmed plates and press it into a low mound.
18. Ladle the hayashi alongside the rice, not over it.
19. Trail the last of the cream over the sauce and scatter with parsley.