Minimal effort, loads of flavor: Make juicy roast beef in your rice cooker with vacuum cooking

Here is a simple, time and effort-conserving way to cook a flavorful roast beef. This method also allows the meat to retain all of its natural juices, so you can impress your friends with an incredibly tender home-cooked meal.

But get ready for the best part of all–you get to let your rice cooker do all the hard work.

In this vacuum method of cooking (also known as sous-vide in French), the meat comes into contact with neither air nor water, but instead cooks slowly through controlled heating. Consequently, the meat preserves its juices and it results in an incredibly moist cut of meat. And of course, the best part about using a rice cooker is that you don’t have to worry about regulating the cooking temperature at all.

For this recipe you will need:

Beef round, 500 grams/1.1 lbs. Our Japanese writer comments that while 100 grams of roast beef usually costs her about 500 yen (US$4.20), she can buy Australian beef for roughly 100 yen ($0.84) per 1oo grams, and it still comes out very tender. Salt and black pepper, as needed Olive oil (vegetable oil is OK too), as needed A rice cooker An airtight, heat-resistant plastic ziplock bag Directions:

1. Coat the meat thoroughly with salt and black pepper.

2. Wrap it in a paper towel and let it sit for about 30 minutes, until the towel absorbs all the excess water.

3. Uncover the meat after 30 minutes. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat, then saute the meat until the entire surface is lightly browned.

4. In a different pot, begin to boil some water.

5. Place the meat in an airtight, heat-resistant ziplock bag, making sure to let out all the air before sealing.

6. Turn the rice cooker on to its lower, “heat retaining” function (look for the 保温状態 button on Japanese rice cookers), then place the bag with meat inside. Pour the hot water in once it reaches approximately 70°C (158°F). Wait 30 more minutes.

※Note: Cooking times will vary depending on how thick your slice of meat is. Twenty minutes is a good rule of thumb for most steaks.

1. Take it out after 30 minutes and let it cool.

※Note: If you try to cut it while it’s still hot, the juices won’t have settled yet and you’ll lose most of them.

1. Cut the meat into slices once it’s cool. Enjoy your roast beef with fresh ginger or wasabi and soy sauce on the side for additional flavoring.

Original article by Heiko Edajima

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