Best Classic Belgian Steak Tartare

Here is a Belgian classic that I adore: homemade steak tartare! Raw ground beef with chopped shallots, capers, mayo, gherkins, egg yolk and tabasco… This is my absolute all time favorite!

Voilà, this is my favorite steak tartare recipe then!

I bought some ground beef down at my local supermarket just around the corner. If you want to show off your knife skills, you can even cut your steak by hand!

Hand Cut

Choose a nice piece of tenderloin, sharpen those knives and roll your muscles…

Because you will need them. Sure a hand crank grinder would come in handy here but I still have to meet the first person who owns one – and also actually uses it.

Steak tartare is a very popular dish in Belgium.

You can eat it pretty much everywhere.

How To Eat Steak Tartare

Good question!

Most often the ground beef steak tartare and the other steak tartare ingredients are already mixed together.

And in that case we call it ‘filet américain’. Sometimes the ingredients are served separately so you can choose what goes into it.

Only a handful of restaurants still prepare their steak tartare tableside.

Add the seasoning and condiments you want but don’t exaggerate. The raw beef must still remain the highlight of this dish.

It has a quite soft and pretty fragile taste and texture.

Classic Homemade Steak Tartare

Which brings us to the most important part of this recipe.

Steak tartare is all about texture.

So do you serve this fresh beef tartare as a main course?

Then you should serve it best with golden fries, a scoop of delicious homemade mayonnaise to dip them in and a simple fresh green salad.

That is the traditional way to eat your steak tartare for dinner.

Or you could also serve the steak tartare for lunch or as a starter like I do very often.

Egg Yolk

And then it usually comes with freshly toasted French bread and a little salad.

I suggest that for a smaller plate and smaller portion you better put a quail egg yolk on top or that tartare will swim in raw egg yolk once you mix it up. Garnish your steak tartare with a sprinkle of coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper…

Heavenly.

Do you like my recipe for steak tartare?

An Asian Version

Then you should also check out a similar beef tartare but with an Asian twist!

Do you need a vegetarian tartare for one of your guests?

Then I have what you are looking for: also try out my fresh tomato tartare with fresh basil and vinegar. Such a delicate meal as well!

So here is a Belgian classic that I adore: my homemade recipe for steak tartare! Raw ground beef with chopped shallots, capers, mayo, gherkins, egg yolk and tabasco…

My absolute all time favorite!

Enjoy!

Easy Belgian Classic Steak Tartare Recipes

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Classic Steak Tartare Recipe

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

0 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

A classic I adore: homemade steak tartare! Raw ground beef with chopped shallots, capers, mayo, gherkins, egg yolk and tabasco... My absolute favorite!

Course: Main Course, Starter

Cuisine: Belgian

Servings: 1 person

Calories per serving: 535 kcal

Ingredients

• 5,5 oz ground beef (155 g)
• 1 tbsp shallots chopped
• 1 tbsp capers in brine chopped
• 1 tbsp pickled gherkins chopped
• 1 tsp worcester sauce
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp mayonnaise
• ½ tsp olive oil
• 1 small egg yolk
• tabasco
• pepper
• salt

Instructions

1. Transfer the ground beef to a large mixing bowl. Also add the chopped gherkins, the salted capers the freshly chopped parsley.

   

2. Stir well. Then add the worcester sauce, lemon juice, mayo, olive oil, the chopped shallots and 2 drops of tabasco. Also add the egg yolk - or keep it aside for garnish. Season the mince with pepper and salt.

   

3. Stir the beef mince well again. Then taste the beef and add extra pepper, salt, worcester sauce, lemon juice or tabasco to taste if necessary.

   

4. Divide the seasoned beef tartare over 2 plates. Then put them in the fridge for about 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with a little sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper and a tiny pinch of salt. Serve the beef tartare cold.

   

Variations

For this steak tartare recipes I used ground raw beef.

But in some specialised restaurants here in Belgium you can also find tartare of horse meat also. I even tasted tartare of venison once during game season.

Now that was an eye opener!

Delicious.

Shopping for Raw Beef

Are you scared of the combination of the raw beef and raw egg yolk?

I get that question a lot: is steak tartare safe to eat?

Quite a lot of people are not keen on eating raw meat.

I have heard that before and sure enough things can go wrong if you are prepping raw meat because well, yes. It is raw. So in order to avoid any trouble or food poisoning later on, there are a couple of things you have to keep in mind.

Fresh Meat

First of all: make sure that the ground beef is fresh.

Buy that portion with the longest shelf or ask your butcher for the freshest beef tenderloin that he has for sale. Tell him or her specifically that you are going to make a steak tartare.

Cold

Second thing to remember: keep the ground beef cold.

When you are shopping, buy the ground beef right in the end. Or put it underneath colder (freezer) products in your shopping trolley while you are doing the rest of your shopping.

Once you get home, put it straight in the fridge.

Don’t let it sit on the kitchen counter for more than a couple of minutes and certainly do not put it in the sunlight or on a warm kitchen device.

Prepping Raw Beef for Steak Tartare

Are you ready to make your steak tartare?

Then first of all start chopping and prepping all of the other condiments you will need for this recipe. One you have prepped everything, remove the raw beef from the fridge and transfer it to a clean bowl you rinsed first with hot water and dried with a clean kitchen towel.

So add the beef, add all the other prepped condiments and then stir it all with a clean spoon or fork (you can also rinse your cutlery under hot running tap water to avoid contamination). If you like me prefer to knead the steak tartare with your hands, wash and dry them thoroughly before kneading it.

Clean Cutlery

You can even wear disposable gloves if you like.

Work fast.

If you need to add more condiments to taste, put the steak tartare in the fridge. Even for just a minute. Are you done prepping? Then put the tartare straight in the fridge to cool.

Same goes for if you are cutting your beef tenderloin by hand or with a meat grinder. Clean and rinse your tools right before you start.

And work fast.

Raw Egg Yolks

So that is as far as the raw beef is concerned.

But what about the raw egg yolk?

Same here, work with the freshest ingredients possible. Keep the eggs refrigerated at all times. Don’t use eggs that you kept at room temperature. I always store my eggs in the fridge by the way.

The second you have plated up the steak tartare, put the plates straight back in the fridge and separate the egg whites and yolks.

Finishing Touch

Top the steak tartare with an egg yolk right before serving. Just make a little dent in the tartare using a clean teaspoon and place the yolk in it.

Are you or some of your guests not a fan of seeing raw egg yolk on their plate? You can always add the yolks to the steak tartare when you are assembling it.

Are there any substitutes for the raw egg yolk just in case someone really doesn’t want to eat raw egg yolk? I would add a little more mayo, mustard or olive oil to keep the steak tartare moist enough.

Raw Food in the World

You would be surprised how popular raw rood, especially raw meat is all around the world.

Can you think of another raw dish besides this steak tartare that is very popular?

My first thought would be: Italian carpaccio. You surely must be familiar with this one! Thinly sliced raw beef topped with shaved parmesan cheese, arugula, olive oil, pepper and salt.

Quite often other ingredients are added such as capers, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes and raw chopped onions.

Oysters

Do you like fresh oysters as an appetizer or starter?

These are also raw. Unless you pop them under a hot grill of course. But I like my oysters best when they are freshly chucked and simply put on some ice. A bit of freshly ground black pepper.

People in Japan eat a lot of raw meat and fish as well, no surprised there.

Sashimi for instance. And how about another classic Japanese dish that I love so much: beef or tuna tataki! Quickly seared on all sides in a very hot pan and then cooled immediately. Slice it up. Yum.

Yukhoe

What?

Yukhoe is also a raw dish. And it comes from Korea.

Raw beef, seasoned with various spices or sauces.

It look very similar to a steak tartare by the way.

OK one last example of a raw dish: ceviche!

Ceviche

Ceviche is popular in Latin America and the Caribbean.

I admit that ceviche can also be pickled cooked fish or seafood. A couple of months ago I was visiting Santiago de Chile and there I tasted the most fantastic raw red tuna ceviche: large cubes of fresh tuna in a zesty lime dressing.

Now that I come to think of it…

Ceviche looks similar to another classic raw fish dish. Poke is a raw fish salad from Hawai.

History

Are you still there?

I could go on for ages and ages about steak tartare and similar dishes to be honest.

One last thing I want to mention here… The steak tartare origin!

While I was doing some research for this recipe online I came across a wonderful article in the New York Times about the history of steak tartare. And its French origin that was called beefsteack à l’Américaine.

Do take a look at it!

It is a great read as well.