Location: My tiny kitchen

This situation happens to me quite often: after dinner, someone will take out a cake from the fridge and start serving it. As they hand out the slices, the following conversation will take place:

“Christina, do you want some cake?”
Me: “No, thanks.”
“Are you sure? It’s really good!”
Me: “No thank you, I don’t like sweets.”
“This cake is not too sweet, it’s just right”
(A moment of silence passed while I tried to think of a clearer explanation)
“How can you be so strong?!”
Me: “Do you have any beef?”

If you are not a big dessert fan, then you’ll understand the first half of the conversation. If you are not a dessert fan who happens to be crazy about beef, then you will completely understand my replies. While people envy my strong will power on desserts, I want to let them know that when you don’t care too much for something, you don’t need to be strong about it. Having said that, although I’m not into desserts, I still understand that they are a big temptation. I understand because I have a huge weakness on beef. I can have beef for breakfast (minced beef congee…mmmm), lunch (roast beef sandwich), dinner (prime rib roast), dessert (left over rib roast) and as a snack (thinly sliced skirt steak, yum). If someone serves beef as desserts after a steak dinner, I would be the first person to take it.

In our second visit to Market (newly opened restaurant at the Shangri-La hotel), I had the sirloin steak as my main course. In the past, I always thought sirloins are tough and it was never my favourite cut. My beliefs were change when one day, I tried my friend’s barbequed sirloin steaks. His steaks were tender and full of tasty beef flavour. Since then, sirloin steaks have become my new love. The version served at Market was delicious. It was served with a shitake mushroom and ginger ragout, which adds richness to every bite. Of course, once I like something, I can’t help to recreate it at home. This dish was relatively easy to make and I had a lot of success even on my first attempt.

You will need the following if you are cooking for two people:

- 2 pieces of sirloin steaks (I bought my steaks from the butcher counter at Safeway, which is recommended by my sirloin steak friend)
- 10 shitake mushrooms
- 1 shallot, finely minced
- 1 tbsp of minced ginger
- 1/2 cup of sherry

1. Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems.

2. Finely chop the mushrooms.
3. Rub a generous amount of kocher salt and black pepper on both sides of each steak.
4. Put 2 tbsp of oil into a hot stainless steel skillet. Over high heat, sear one side of the steaks until it turns brown, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium-high, seared the other side of the steaks. Turn the heat to medium and cover the pan for 1 minute. If your steaks are one inch thick, they are now cooked to medium rare. If you want your steaks to be more cooked or if you have thicker steaks, leave them in the pan for longer.
5. Place the steaks on a plate and let them rest.

6. Turn the heat on to high, pan fry the ginger and shallots for 1 minute.

7. Put in the shitake mushroom, deglaze the pan with the sherry.
8. Continue to cook until all of the sherry has been reduced, about 3 minutes.
9. The steaks are not ready to be sliced. Letting them rest before cutting helps them to retain their juice. Serve the shitake and ginger ragout with the slices.