Yakiniku Gyutan (Grilled Beef Tongue, A Serenade)
Oh glorious beef tongue,
Juicy, fat, and tender,
You don’t take much to make people happy,
To your delicious, smoky, beefy flavor
I surrender
Beef tongue is probably my favorite cut of beef for yakiniku style barbecues. No, let me amend that, it is my favorite cut of beef for yakiniku style barbecues. Fatty, beefy, tender, but with a pleasant spring that makes me feel something in the cold icebox that is my heart (just kidding.)
This is the simplest way to eat it, and by far my favorite. While you can make a citrus scallion sauce (like I did here) or different types of miso based pastes (like here), a wedge of lime or lemon, some sliced scallions, and a nice flaked salt with fresh cracked pepper sitting in some sesame oil really just brings out the original flavor.
I love it with some creamy egg yolk (which my duck eggs are perfect for) and hot white rice.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces sliced beef tongue
- Sesame oil
- Salt to taste (flaked sea or pink himalayan)
- Pepper to taste
- Scallions, sliced
- Lime or lemon wedges
- Hot white rice
- Egg yolk (optional)
- On a pan or grill over high heat, sear beef tongue until desired done-ness.
- Combine sesame oil, and and pepper to taste.
- Place beef tongue over hot white rice, garnish with scallions, add an egg yolk if using, and squeeze a lime or lemon wedge over the meat. Dip in sesame sauce and enjoy!