No fault if you’re eyeing the recipe picture and wondering what that thing on the plate has to do with steak. But hear us out. Sure, you could serve your child cut up pieces of an intact steak, but if you’ve done that before you know that most of your meal time will be spent managing his/her chewing, portion control, and/or ambivalence; you could serve meat in the form of nubbins, those craggy bits and bites that define, say, KBBQ or shawarma, but we imagine that’s not quite you had in mind. You want to be able to sit down with your child and be able to eat.some.meat, which means you’re going to need to meet your little one halfway when it comes to taste, type, and texture. We have just the dish to help.
So that thing-on-a-plate is, in fact, a steak–ribeye or sirloin, up to you. Our play on it has some similarities to a cutlet – i.e., a breaded piece of meat a la Milanese, wiener schnitzel, etc.—and to chicken fried steak, but our primary source of inspiration is actually Bulgogi, not only for the flavors (sweet and savory) but also for that just right and manageable chew and mouth feel. That’s essentially what’s under the hood of this dish, in both how the meat is cut and the marinade; the breading is for visual and tooth appeal, and can be taken off and/or vanished after a try or two depending on how ready and interested in straight-up meat treats. In other words, it’s a great gateway to steak.
Now, this is the sort of dish that’s both easy and counterintuitive; it pays to read the directions closely. Two idiosyncrasies to note: 1) if you don’t buy pre-sliced sirloin or ribeye check the Note at the end of the recipe for how to slice your meat for cooking; 2) unlike pretty much every cutlet recipe, the batter is put together in reverse order – that is, you bread the meat first and then dip it into an egg wash. Weird right? It works, promise.
Immediately add steak pieces to pan and cook for 60 seconds; flip and cook other side until the exterior crisps up and the steak is cooked through, roughly 60-90 seconds.
Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before serving.
Since the egg helps tenderize the meat and stick the outside coating to the steak, it will be easy for your child to grab and eat pieces of the steak on his/her own; you can cut the larger strips into smaller pieces for easier use of the fork. The marinade provides all the flavor the meat needs, but a barbecue sauce or adjacent condiment (i.e., hoisin, tonkatsu, etc.) works just fine if that’s what your child likes.
Skip the breading altogether and make bulgogi by skipping the egg and breadcrumb dips and just cooking the meat on Medium High for 30 seconds a side. Our chicken equivalent to this is a Milanese by way of Japan: we run pounded/flattened cuts or tenderloins through flour, then an egg wash with a bit of soy in it, and then breadcrumbs mixed with furikake seasoning; we cook for two minutes a side.
Most Asian grocery stores (i.e., H-Mart, 99 Ranch) will sell packages of thinly-sliced ribeye or sirloin; if you are only able to buy it as thick-cut steaks, do what said Asian grocery stores and/or restaurants do: freeze the meat for roughly 30-45 minutes, which will allow it to firm up (but not entirely harden/freeze) and be easier to cut. Flip the steak on its side and cut thin slices across the whole of the steak. If any pieces are overly thick or irregularly shaped, you can use a meat tenderizer to pound those portions flat.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
