Negima
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.
The cuts of beef that supermarkets most frequently slice thin are from the round, which is not only tough but relatively tasteless, making chicken, veal, and pork (which are routinely sold as thin cutlets that can be made even thinner with a little gentle pounding) viable substitutes.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
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.
