2025 Taste Canada Cooks the Books
presented by Canadian Beef
Hanger Steak, Sundried Tomato Sushi Rice and Sweet Vermouth Brown Sauce
Recipe by: Student Patrick Goodmurphy and Victoria Petroff
Team: Durham College | Oshawa, Ontario
The intense beef flavour of the hanger steak is complemented by a sweet vermouth brown sauce, chimichurri, sundried tomato sushi rice, pickled cucumber-radish and honey glazed carrots.
Hanger Steak, Sundried Tomato Sushi Rice and Sweet Vermouth Brown Sauce
Ingredients
Pickled Cucumber and Radish:
- ½ cup (125 mL) rice vinegar
- ½ cup (125 mL) sugar
- ¾ cup (325 mL) water
- ½ cup (125 mL) thinly sliced mini cucumber
- ½ cup (125 mL) thinly sliced radish
Sundried Tomato Sushi Rice:
- 1 ¼ cup (313 mL) Dainty® Medium Grain Rice
- 2 cup (500 mL) cold water
- ½ cup (125 mL) rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) sugar, granulated
- ½ tsp (2.5 mL) salt
- 1 cup (250 mL) sundried tomato, minced
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) shallot, minced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) extra virgin olive oil
Rice Crisp:
- 4 tbsp (60 mL) cooked Dainty® Medium Grain Rice
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) water
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) each: smoked paprika, black pepper, salt
Sweet Vermouth Brown Sauce:
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) Lactalis Unsalted Butter
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) shallot, minced
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) porcini powder
- 1 cup (250 mL) sweet vermouth
- 6 cups (1500 mL) brown stock
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) Lactalis Sour Cream
Chimichurri:
- ½ cup (125 mL) finely chopped parsley
- ½ cup (125 mL) finely chopped cilantro
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) shallot, minced
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) bird’s eye chili, minced
- 4 tbsp (60 mL) red wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp (60 mL) extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
- ¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly ground black pepper
Glazed Carrots:
- 12 each mini carrots peeled
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) Lactalis Unsalted Butter
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) honey
- ¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
- Pan Seared Hanger Steak:
- 2 whole PEI Certified Beef Hanger Steak 1.5-2 lb avg each white membrane removed
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) Montreal steak spice
- 3 tbsp (45 mL) canola oil
Instructions
Pickled Cucumber and Radish:
- Mix vinegar, sugar and water. Add sliced cucumber and radish. Allow to sit for 45 min. Drain and serve with sundried tomato sushi rice.
Sundried Tomato Sushi Rice:
- Wash rice and place in cooker with 2 cups of cold water and steam. Mix vinegar, sugar, water and salt. Once rice is cooked, allow to cool for a minute and carefully fold in vinegar mixture. Fill silicone molds with rice and place in refrigerator to cool. Puree sundried tomato, shallot, garlic and olive oil. Unmold the cooled rice and brown all sides with a torch. Smear sundried tomato on the top of each portion of rice and bake for 5 min. Top each rice portion with pickled beets
Rice Crisp:
- Place cooked rice, water in a small cup and puree with immersion blender. Wrap a flat plate with 2 layers of plastic wrap. Smear with rice puree and microwave for 5 minutes to dry out. Allow to cool and peel rice off. Fry in hot canola oil to crisp. Season with smoked paprika mixture.
Sweet Vermouth Brown Sauce:
- Heat butter in sauce pan, add shallot and saute for 2 min. Add porcini powder and deglaze pan with sweet vermouth and brown stock. Reduce until the consistency of heavy cream. Stir in sour cream just before plating.
Chimichurri:
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and drizzle on seared hanger steak.
Glazed Carrots:
- Blanch peeled carrots in salted simmering water until al dente, about 2 min. Refresh in ice water and drain. At service time, place carrots, butter and honey in sauté pan and heat through. Season with salt and pepper, serve immediately.
Pan Seared Hanger Steak:
- Remove tough white membrane that runs down the middle of the hanger steak. Season with Montreal steak spice. In a hot sauté pan, add canola oil and sear steak on all sides. Place steak on sheet pan and finish cooking in 400 F oven for about 5 min or until internal temperature reaches 130-135 F. Allow to rest for 5 min and slice across the grain to serve.
- Plate each portion of hanger steak with vermouth sauce, chimichurri, sundried tomato sushi rice, pickled cucumber/radish, carrots and rice crisp.
Notes
Garnish with rice crisp.
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
