A Japanese-style steak, tenderised with onions and soy marinade

Try adding a new steak recipe to your repertoire with Chaliapin steak.

Chaliapin Steak

I only came across this recipe recently and thought I’d give it a whirl.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

Chaliapin steak is a Japanese invention named after Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin.

Apparently, the story goes, Feodor had a toothache and told the hotel chef to prepare him a tender steak as he couldn’t chew heavily.

The chef devised a way to tenderise a sirloin steak with a load of chopped onions.

And this is how the Chaliapin steak was born.

If you visit the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, it’s apparently still on the menu.

Or, you could follow this recipe and try it at home.

I used grass-fed sirloin but you can choose any cheaper cut as the marinading will tenderise the meat,

is a Japanese manga series about an aspiring chef who enrols in an elite culinary school where students take part in cooking competitions.

In this series, the protagonist, Soma, took the Chapliapin steak and put a twist on it by serving the steak atop rice like a donburi.

Chaliapin steak

The king of steaks. It has the perfect balance of fat and tenderness and lies somewhere between a rump and fillet with its texture and flavours.
Traditionally age adds more depth and flavour.
Should be cooked in a similar way to rib-eye, allowing the fat to melt into the meat i.e. flash fry or griddle.

It’s also known as Butler’s Steak, Flatiron Steak or Oyster Blade Steak.
The Feather blade is not a well-known cut and it’s not an expensive cut which is a great bonus.
Believe it or not, it’s the second tenderest cut of beef. Second only to fillet. It’s great, all the tenderness of fillet and all the flavour of rump.
It comes from the shoulder blade, has a very short grain, fine marbling, is extremely tender and juicy and packs a sweet flavour.

Course Main Course

Keyword gras- fed steak, sirloin steak

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Marinading Time 1

Total Time 1 20

Servings 3 people

Cost ££

Cut slits ⅓ of the way into the steak 2 cm apart. Flip the steak over and repeat.
Mix the onions, soy sauce and salt and surround the steak in onions. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight
The next day, brush off all of the onions from the meat and set the onions aside. Season the steak with black pepper.
Preheat a frying pan over medium-high heat until very hot. Add the vegetable oil, and then add the steak. Fry on one side until nicely browned, and then flip and fry the other side – approx 2 – 3mins depending on the thickness of your steak.
When the steak is cooked to your liking, transfer it to a plate and rest it.
Back to the onions: Turn down the heat and add the onions to the same frying pan. Cook for approx. 6 mins until they start to caramelise.
Add the soy sauce and continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated and the soy sauce, then add the red wine and cook of the alcohol – a couple of minutes.
To finish the sauce, add the butter and stir it in to thicken the sauce.
Serving suggestion:
Cook some rice and chop some spring onions into it.
Slice the steak thinly.
Fill some bowls with the rice and spring onions and lay thinly sliced steak on to. Top with a good spoonful or two of the onion sauce.