2025 Taste Canada Cooks the Books
presented by Canadian Beef
Birch Wasabi Flat Iron Steak with Kimora Rice Cake & Butter Braised Carrots
Recipe by: Student Chefs Alicia Decosse and Presley Kuharski
Team: Assiniboine College | Brandon, Manitoba
Pan-seared Flat Iron steak glazed with birch syrup & wasabi, paired with tangy Yogurt Yum Yum, our Manitoba-inspired twist on Japanese BBQ. Served alongside crispy Kimora rice cakes, butter braised heirloom purple carrots, pickled mushrooms, black sesame crisps and fresh microgreens.
Birch Wasabi Flat Iron Steak with Kimora Rice Cake & Butter Braised Carrots
Ingredients
Canadian Beef Flat Iron Birch and Wasabi Glazed Steaks:
- 6 5 oz PEI Certified Beef Flat Iron steaks
- ¼ cup (60 mL) birch syrup
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) wasabi paste
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) tamari
Kimora Rice Cakes:
- 2 cups (340 g) Dainty® Kimora Rice
- 3 cups (710 mL) water
- 4 cloves garlic microplaned
- 4 tsp (20 mL) microplaned fresh ginger
- ½ tsp (4 g) salt
- 1 tbsp (17 g) Lactalis Salted Butter
Rice Cake Seasoning:
- 1 ½ tsp (7 mL) fish sauce
- 1 ½ tsp (7 mL) rice vinegar
- 2 tsp (10 mL) sesame oil
- 2 tsp (10 mL) sugar
- 1 tsp (5 mL) salt
Rice Cake Breading:
- 1 cup (145 g) corn starch
- 3 eggs + ¼ cup 70 mL water
- 2 cups (270 g) panko
- 2 cups (475 mL) canola oil
- Flakey salt for seasoning
Butter Braised Heirloom Carrots
- 6 large heirloom carrots peeled
- ½ cup (120 g) honey
- 3 cups (710 mL) water
- ½ cup (115 g) Lactalis Salted Butter
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
- Salt and pepper to taste
Pickled Shimeji Mushrooms
- 50 g Shimeji mushrooms
- ½ fresh medium Thai red chili sliced thinly on a bias
- 2 tsp (10 mL) ginger thinly sliced
Pickle Brine:
- ¼ cup (60 mL) ponzu
- ½ cup (120 mL) water
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) honey
- ½ tbsp (6 g) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (60 mL) rice vinegar
- 2 tsp (5 g) Seto Fumi Furikake
Siggi’s Yogurt Yum Yum Sauce
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) Lactalis Natural Yogurt
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) ketchup
- ½ tbsp (10 mL) Mirin
- ¾ tsp (3.5 mL) rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) Sriracha
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) melted Lactalis Unsalted Butter
- ¼ tsp (1 g) garlic powder
- ¼ tsp (1 g) ground ginger
- ¼ tsp (1 g) smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp 1 g onion powder
- Pinch each of ground mustard pepper, salt
Pineapple White Miso Sauce
- 1 tbsp (17 g) Lactalis Unsalted Butter
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 tsp (4 g) fresh ginger, minced
- ½ fresh Thai red chili
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) orange marmalade
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) white miso paste
- ½ tsp (2 g) turmeric
- ½ tbsp (10 mL) sesame oil
- ¾ cup (215 mL) pineapple juice
- 3 tbsp (55 mL) honey
- Slurry: 1 tbsp 9 g cornstarch + 1 tbsp (18 g) water
Microgreens Garnish
- Assorted microgreens such as pea beet or radish
Instructions
Flat Iron Steak & Birch Wasabi Glaze:
- Trim and portion steaks to 5 oz. Season with salt and pepper; refrigerate. Whisk glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Ten minutes before serving, heat oil over high heat and sear steaks ~2 minutes per side, brushing with glaze. Cover with foil and rest for 5 minutes.
Kimora Rice Cake:
- Combine rice, water, ginger, garlic, salt, and butter in a medium saucepot. Cover, boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Mix seasoning in a bowl. Once water is absorbed, stir in seasoning. Transfer to plastic-lined sheet pan, press to ½ inch thickness with wet hands, and freeze for 5 minutes. Prepare egg wash, cornstarch, and panko. Cut chilled rice into six 3.5-inch circles. Bread: cornstarch → egg → panko. Fifteen minutes before serving, heat oil over medium-high and fry until golden. Drain on wire rack and sprinkle with flakey salt.
Butter Braised Heirloom Carrots:
- Peel and trim carrots. Cut into 3-inch sections, then slice diagonally into triangle prisms. Melt butter in saucepan, sauté carrots 1–2 minutes. Add braising ingredients, boil, then cover and simmer 30–40 minutes until fork-tender and glazed.
Pickled Shimeji Mushrooms:
- Separate mushrooms into bundles or stems. Whisk brine ingredients in a bowl, add mushrooms and remaining ingredients. Cover and set aside to pickle.
Pineapple Miso Sauce:
- Combine all ingredients (except slurry) in saucepot. Simmer 5 minutes, strain into clean pot. Bring to simmer, whisk in slurry, and simmer 5–10 minutes until thickened.
Black Sesame Crisps:
- Toast sesame seeds until fragrant; set aside. Melt sugar and honey over low heat, stirring until dissolved. Add seeds and mix to coat. Pour onto silicone mat, cover with another mat, and roll thin. Cool completely and break into pieces.
Yogurt Yum Yum:
- Sauce Whisk all ingredients, place in squeeze bottle and refrigerate.
Plating:
- Spoon pineapple miso sauce off-center and tap to splatter. Cut rice cakes into half circles; place one flat on sauce, one upright at 90°. Squeeze Yum Yum sauce in front. Slice steak thinly and fan over flat rice cake. Stand 3 carrots behind. Add 4 Yum Yum dots to connect rice cakes. Nestle mushrooms between cakes. Garnish with shoots and sesame crisp.
Notes
- Buying local honey keep the bees here and our Canadian crops growing. Maple syrup can be substituted for birch syrup. This can be made gluten free with gluten free panko and substituting tamari + pineapple juice for the ponzu.Grown, produced or raised in Canada.
The 2025 student chefs selected a unique cut of beef for their recipe by exploring a new web-based education tool, the Canadian Beef Information Gateway. The Gateway has information on over 70 cuts of beef with cut descriptions, complete nutrition info per cut, how-to-cook recommendations, over 300+ recipe videos and more.
Taste Canada Cooks the Books presented by Canada Beef is a cooking competition that invites Canadian culinary students from across the nation to compete for the title of Canada’s Best New Student Chefs. The theme for this year's competition was “Global Flavours Grow in Canada”, which challenged the students to explore the rich tapestry of global cuisines and cultural influences that have shaped their culinary journeys. Drawing from one or more cultural cuisines or heritage(s) that has inspired their culinary journey, students were challenged to develop a unique recipe using a variety of Canadian ingredients, branded partner products, and a unique cut of Canadian AAA beef.
Using the Canadian Beef Information Gateway, a web-based platform, students were able to explore all that Canadian Beef has to offer.
This year's kitchen battle took place in the beautiful professional kitchen at Cirillo's Academy in Toronto. The student chefs prepared their dishes, start to finish, live in front of the crowd while being scored by two Culinary Federation international gold medal-winning chefs. Then, competitors presented their dishes to the judges' panel for tasting. The winners were announced during the Taste Canada Awards Soirée, with the Gold Winning team taking home a $3,000 bursary, some amazing kitchen swag and the title of Taste Canada’s Best New Student Chefs!
Photo Credits: Cathy Connally, Charley Best and Stephen Chu
Special Thanks to the 2025 Taste Canada Cooks the Books Sponsors:
Presented by Canadian Beef
