Hickory Seared Elk Tataki

8 INGREDIENTS | EASY

Looking to impress your dinner guests with an exotic and delicious appetizer? Look no further than this recipe for Hickory Seared Elk Tataki. Follow these steps to create a mouth-watering dish that will have your guests coming back for more.

PREP TIME: 45 MIN COOK TIME: 5 MIN

INGREDIENTS

6oz chunk Elk Backstrap, cleaned & trimmed
1 ½ oz Wafu Dressing
1ea Scallion, green only thinly sliced on hard bias
½ ea Fresno pepper, thinly sliced
2 spring Cilantro, cut into 2” sections
¾ tsp Sesame Seeds
1 tsp Chili-Infused Sesame Oil (plain okay to substitute)
Pinch Finishing Flake Salt (like Maldon)

STEPS

Build large hot fire with lump charcoal in Burch Barrel. Temperature gauge should read at least 700F. When ready to cook, add handful of pre-soaked hickory chips to coals. Sear all sides of elk backstrap chunk quickly, but allow just enough time to create nice caramelization. Interior of meat should still be very rare to raw. Chill in refrigerator when finished until ready to slice and plate.

When ready to plate, slice meat into slices no thicker than ¼ inch thick. Very thin to ensure tenderness is the goal while having enough thickness to prevent the slices from falling apart.

Shingle slices onto plate to showcase the rare temperature of the meat. Gently spoon Wafu Sauce over and around the slices of elk. Place as many or as few slices of fresno pepper onto the elk as your spice tolerance enjoys.

Drizzle a small amount of the chili-infused sesame oil over the meat and wafu sauce. Sprinkle the sesame seeds to garnish. Lightly season the slices of meat with the finishing salt. Gently garnish the meat with the sliced scallion and trimmed cilantro sprigs to complete your presentation.