Japanese Steakhouse Jerky

On a recent lunch date, I was inspired by a delicious Kobe beef appetizer at our favorite sushi restaurant and wanted to recreate the wonderful flavors for our Ronco Beef Jerky Machine.

Everyone in our house loves Beef Jerky as a snack and I love how much less expensive it is to make at home... and knowing exactly what ingredients are in our Jerky. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1.5 pound flank steak

• 1 ½ cup low sodium soy sauce

• ¾ cup rice wine vinegar

• ¼ cup sesame oil

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1-2 teaspoons wasabi paste (depending on taste)

• 1 tablespoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon white pepper

• 5 garlic cloves finely chopped

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

Instructions

1. Remove flank steak from packaging and place into large freezer bag. Pound meat lightly with meat mallet to uniform width of about ½ inch

2. Place flank steak in freezer for about two hours to make cutting the meat easier. Do not freeze solid, just place in freezer long enough to slightly harden the meat.

3. When ready to cut meat, prepare marinade by mixing all other ingredients

4. Remove any extra fat from your steak with a sharp knife. Fat does not dehydrate properly and will quickly spoil your jerky batch.

5. Slice flank steak along the grain of the meat into very thin strips about ¼ inch in width. The important thing to keep in mind when slicing your meat is to cut your meat to a uniform width so that it all dehydrates in the same time.

6. Place meat into marinade and allow to soak up flavors in the fridge for 2-12 hours. The longer you marinate your jerky the saltier it becomes.

7. Place marinated meat on to your Ronco Beef Jerky trays in one layer and not touching. Allow some marinade to remain on marinated meat strips and dehydrate. Rotate and turn your trays every few hours.

8. Jerky is done in 8 to 24 hours depending on thickness of meat. Properly dehydrated jerky will be chewy and leathery; it will not have any moist spots and will bend like a green branch but not crumble into pieces.

Properly dried jerky will keep at room temperature two weeks in an airtight container. Store in a dark, dry place. You can also refrigerate or freeze jerky.