How to Slice Meat Thinly
Thinly sliced pork or beef is the key ingredient in many popular Japanese recipes. Here‘s my simple hack for how to slice meat thinly at home for delicious Japanese dishes like shabu shabu, okonomiyaki, and gyudon.
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Ingredients
- premium-quality meat (beef tenderloin, top sirloin, strip loin, ribeye, filet mignon, pork loin, pork belly, or any cut of meat that is slightly leaner and a bit firmer)
Instructions
Before You Start...
- For best results, select a high-quality cut of beef or pork as described above. I recommend choosing thicker cuts; steaks should be at least 1½–2 inches (3.8–5 cm) thick. Also, sharpen your kitchen knife before you start slicing. For this task, I recommend a chef knife like the Nagomi Damascus Gyuto Chef Knife at JOC Goods.
To Prepare the Meat
- Prepare your premium-quality meat. For a ribeye steak or other large steak, cut it in half into two smaller pieces. I find that a smaller chunk is easier to slice thinly once frozen.
- Tightly wrap each piece separately with plastic wrap.
- For a filet mignon, make sure to pack the meat tightly when you wrap it in plastic. This freezes the filet into a solid chunk so you can get beautiful thin slices that stay together.
To Freeze
- Put the meat on a metal tray and place it in the freezer until firm, about 1½ to 2 hours for meat pieces that are roughly 1 lb (450 g) each. Freezing time varies depending on the size and fattiness of the meat.
To Slice the Meat
- Check that the meat is ready to slice. It's ready if a very sharp knife goes through smoothly and the meat is firm enough to slice thinly. If you have trouble slicing because the meat is too soft, put it back into the freezer until it‘s firmer.
- Slice against the grain using a gentle sawing motion. When you look at the meat, you will see the muscle fibers going in one direction. Please cut across these fibers in the other direction. Nami's Tip: Cutting against the grain is the secret to tender meat.
To Store
- The meat is now ready to use. Layer the thin slices on a tray or plate, cover with plastic wrap, and store it in the fridge until ready to use, up to 3 days.To freeze it for later, seal the layered meat in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag. Store it in the freezer for up to 1 month. When you’re ready to use it, defrost it in the fridge overnight.