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Beef Negimaki is the ideal appetizer or impressive dinner for guests! This Japanese dish features thin slices of beef wrapped around scallions, grilled until charred and brushed with a sweet and salty glaze. Delicious and impressive!
I’ve been working closely with the Iowa Beef Council for years to bring you foolproof, reliable beef recipes. And this guide to making beef negimaki is one of those! I first learned about this impressive beef appetizer as an intern at America’s Test Kitchen. And this recipe is adapted from one by them.
My version features a sweet and savory glaze sweetened with both honey and mirin—instead of sugar. Together, these two ingredients add sweetness and flavor. Plus, the glaze also features fresh ginger which adds a warm spiciness that really makes each bite sing.
Reader Review
“Just made this for date night and WOW. My boyfriend and I were raving!! I’ve already told my mom and sister about it. Looks like a lot of work but it’s really not, and it’s a fun process!”
– Carli
What is Beef Negimaki?
Negimaki (pronounced Neh-gee-mah-kee) translates as “scallion roll” and is a Japanese dish consisting of thinly sliced steak rolled around scallions and broiled, grilled, or pan-fried until browned and charred. The rolls are brushed with a sweet and salty teriyaki-like glaze before serving.
Negimaki Ingredients
Here is a quick rundown of what you’ll need for the recipe. For ingredient amounts, jump down to the recipe card.
Best Beef Cut for Negimaki
I recommend using flank steak for this recipe. It’s consistent in shape, thickness, and leanness. Skirt steak makes a good substitution—but if you can find flank steak use that.
- Low-sodium soy sauce: I find soy sauce in the US to be overly salty. So when developing recipes I always use low-sodium. It’s got more flavor than just salt!
- Honey: adds flavor and sweetness.
- Mirin: sweetened rice wine—key for adding some sweetness and a bit of acid. If you don’t have it, increase the amount of honey or brown sugar you use by 2 teaspoons.
- Sake: A Japanese rice wine made by fermenting rice. It adds subtle sweetness and umami.
- Sesame seeds: add a dose of nuttiness to the dish. I prefer white sesame seeds here, but either work.
- Ginger: fresh is best! It adds warmth and spiciness to the glaze.
- Scallions: look for scallions that are fairly thin. If they’re too large they won’t cook through enough before the beef is done.
How to Make Beef Negimaki
This is an overview of the recipe, with step-by-step photos to guarantee success. Find the full recipe in the recipe card.
- Start by making the glaze by combining the soy sauce, honey, mirin and sake in a saucepan. Simmer until it’s syrupy and reduced by half, this will take about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in sesame seeds and grated ginger
TIP: I like to add the ginger off heat because the hot sauce cooks it just enough while maintaining its sharpness.
- Slice the slightly frozen steak crosswise against the grain into strips.
TIP: pop the steak in the freezer before you get started prepping this recipe. It’s easier to slice when it’s partially frozen.
- Pound out the steak slices using a rolling pin or flat meat mallet so they’re half as thick as they were when sliced.
- Arrange 3 thin slices of meat on a cutting board, shingling them so they overlap slightly.
- Place 4 scallion halves at end closest to you, perpendicular across steak slices. Starting from edge nearest you, roll steak over scallions and away from you, into a tight roll.
TIP: I like to use the blade of a large chefs knife to help me pick up the edges of the meat as one. A bench scraper would also do this well.
- Secure with three to four toothpicks and repeat with remaining meat and scallions.
- Grill rolls until charred, brushing after each turn with glaze.
- Slice each roll into thirds and serve with additional glaze.
Make Ahead Tip
Rolls can be assembled up to 24 hours ahead of time. Leftovers can be store for up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
Serving Beef Negimaki
Serve these rolls as an appetizer with the reserved glaze or turn them into a dinner with a side of rice and charred snap peas. Or try any of these other side dishes!
Beef Negimaki FAQs
I recommend you do. Flank steak is the most reliable and affordable cut for this technique. It’s relatively lean with a few pockets of fat, which is ideal for both flavor and this cooking technique. If you can’t find flank steak, you can substitute with skirt steak.
Sake adds a wonderful flavor to the sauce, but if you don’t have it, you can replace it with dry sherry, also labeled cooking sherry. Dry white wine is also a great substitution. If you need a non-alcoholic option, replace the ¼ cup sake with 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and 3 tablespoons water.
Beef negimaki is a Japanese dish made of thinly sliced beef, rolled around scallions and grilled. It’s then glazed with a sweet and salty sauce. Teriyaki, on the other hand, refers more broadly to grilling or pan-frying meat sweet soy sauce and mirin glaze. Teriyaki can be made with a variety of meat proteins.
Beef Negimaki Recipe
Description
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Ingredients
- 1 (2-pound) flank steak, trimmed
- ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup mirin
- ¼ cup sake
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- ¾ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 16 scallions, trimmed and halved crosswise
Instructions
Assembly
- Place steak on large plate and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Combine ½ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup honey, ¼ cup mirin and ¼ cup sake in a small saucepan over medium. Bring to a simmer, stirring to combine, and cook until slightly syrupy and reduced by half (about ⅔ cup), 8–10 minutes.
- Off heat, stir in 1 tablespoon sesame seeds and ¾ grated ginger. Divide sauce evenly between 2 bowls and let cool; set one bowl aside for serving.
- Transfer steak to a cutting board and, starting at narrow tapered end, slice steak ⅜-inch thick on bias against grain until width of steak is 7-inches (depending on size of steak, you will need to remove 2–3 slices until steak measures 7-inches across).
- Cut steak in half lengthwise then continue to cut each half (on a bias and against the grain) into ⅜-inch thick slices. You should have at least 24 slices. Pound each slice to 3/16-inch thickness using a flat meat mallet or rolling pin.
- Arrange 3 slices of meat on cutting board with short side of slices facing you, overlapping slices by ¼-inch and alternating tapered ends to form a rough rectangle that's 4- to 6-inches wide and at least 4-inches long.
- Place 4 scallion halves along edge of rectangle parallel to you and perpendicular across steak slices. Starting from bottom edge (nearest you), roll steak over scallions away from you, into a tight roll. Insert 3 toothpicks, equally spaced along roll, through roll to secure.
- Transfer roll to platter and repeat with remaining steak slices and scallions. (Assembled rolls can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.)
Charcoal Grill
- Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter three-quarters filled with charcoal briquettes. When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.
Gas Grill
- Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.
Grilling
- Brush grill grate with oil. Place rolls on grill (over coals if using charcoal) and cook until first side is beginning to char, about 4 minutes. Flip rolls, brush cooked side with glaze, and cook until second side is beginning to char, about 4 minutes. Cook remaining 2 sides, glazing after each turn, until all 4 sides of rolls are evenly charred and thermometer inserted from end of roll into scallions at core registers around 150ºF (65ºC), 2–4 minutes more (10–12 minutes total cooking time).
Serving
- Transfer rolls to cutting board, tent with aluminum foil, and rest 5 minutes. Discard any remaining glaze used for brushing over meat.
- Remove toothpicks from rolls and cut rolls crosswise into 3 equal pieces. Arrange rolls cut side down on a clean platter and drizzle with 2 tablespoons reserved glaze. Serve with any remaining reserved glaze.
Notes
Nutrition
This sponsored post is in partnership with the Iowa Beef Council. As always the thoughts, opinions, recipe, photos and content are all my own.
just made this for date night and WOW. my boyfriend and I were raving!! I’ve already told my mom and sister about it. looks like a lot of work but it’s really not, and it’s a fun process!
I had to tell you how much we love these!!! They are so delicious and perfect for appetizers edinner. I am making them for our Christmas dinner appetizer.