Negimaki (beef and scallion rolls) in teriyaki sauce

If you love beef teriyaki, then you'll love this delicious Japanese dish! Savory scallions are wrapped in thin slices of beef then quickly seared with sweet and salty teriyaki glaze.

Total carbs 5g

Negimaki translates to "scallion roll". When my mother worked at a Japanese bento (lunch box) shop, I helped her roll hundreds of negimaki every week to fill the lunch box orders. They are easy to make ahead. And because the beef is sliced thinly, they cook up quickly during the lunchtime rush.

The bold flavors of beef, scallions and teriyaki sauce stand out and pair well with the other dishes in the bento box.

Even though the teriyaki sauce contains sugar, it is still low carb. A serving has only 5 grams of carbs.

Ingredients you'll need

Paper thin slices of beef

You can buy very thinly sliced beef, suitable for wrapping around scallions, at Asian grocery stores, especially Japanese and Korean supermarkets.

If you don't have an Asian grocery near you, then you can place a rib-eye (or chuck or top round) steak in the freezer for 15 minutes, then take it out and thinly cut it against the grain. If the pieces are too thick, pound them out with a meat pounder.

scallions

Wash scallions thoroughly as they tend to have lots of grit. Trim the roots from the bulbs. Cut into 2 inch pieces to fit the beef rolls. Slice the thicker pieces in half lengthwise.

You can substitute scallions with chives. I used wild garlic chives in the negimaki pictured in this recipe.

teriyaki sauce

The basic sauce is soy sauce and sugar. This is what's called tare. It's a sweet and salty glaze.

Make your own sauce at home and control the amount of sugar that goes into it. Please don't use pre-made, store-bought teriyaki sauce. That stuff is mostly sugar or corn syrup.

You could use a sugar substitute if you are on a strict diet, but I don't recommend it. You need a scant amount of sugar to get a good caramelized glaze from the sauce.

There are many variations on the teriyaki sauce recipe. Many call for sake and mirin. Mirin is a naturally sweet cooking wine. However, these days mirin is often artificially sweetened with corn syrup. For a good part of my life sake and mirin were hard to come by or we just couldn't afford them. Soy sauce and sugar served us just fine. It is what we used at the restaurant simply because it was frugal and people loved it.

You can also add garlic and ginger, but it isn't necessary simply because scallions are aromatic on their own.

Equipment you'll need

A large frying pan.

Make ahead

These rolls are great to make ahead of time. Just roll the beef around the scallions and store flat on a tray. If you like, hold them together with toothpicks. Just be sure to store them with the toothpick lying flat, in line with the surface of the tray, and not sticking up so that they don't poke holes in the plastic wrap. Cover with wrap and keep it the fridge for a day or two until ready to cook.

You can mix the the teriyaki sauce ahead of time and leave it out on the counter in a sealed container or jar until ready to use.

Serving suggestions

This dish is typically served with a side of rice and vegetables. A third of a cup of rice is 15 grams of carbs. I like to serve this with a side salad, steamed broccoli or a lightly sautéed vegetable mix of chopped cabbage, onions, carrots, snow peas and bean sprouts seasoned simply with salt.

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