Enjoy the delicious, fresh flavours of this venison tataki recipe

Pheasant, partridge and wild duck are ideal meats for stir-fry and venison is a perfect alternative to beef or fresh tuna in this venison fillet recipe, tataki. Fillet is extravagant, but the texture and flavour is so clean that I felt energised for hours after eating this. It should be as rare, if not raw, as possible, so keep the cooking time as short as you can. Medium rare is fine, too, if that is more bearable.

The texture and flavour is so clean that I felt energised for hours after eating this.

Venison fillet recipe – venison tataki

Ingredients

• For the mayonnaise: 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 125ml groundnut OIL or sunflower oil
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 TSP TO 4tsp wasabi paste

• For the salad : 6 tender stem broccoli spears
• 10 radishes
• 2 spring onions
• 1 small carrot
• 150g baby leaf salad
• 50g coriander

• For the dressing: 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp maple syrup

• For the venison: 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 400g venison fillet
• 4 tsp sesame seeds, white and/or black’

Method

1. First make the mayonnaise. Put the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk in the mustard. Very slowly add the oil, whisking in a few drops at a time to begin with, beating well so the sauce emulsifies. Continue until nearly all the oil has been added. The mixture will gradually become thicker. Add the lemon juice, beat well, then add the remaining oil with the wasabi paste. Add salt to taste, then set aside.
2. Cut the broccoli spears across the stems in thin slices. They will be tender enough to eat raw. Slice the radishes very thinly — I use a mandolin, watching my fingers — then slice the green part of the spring onions, omitting the white part. Grate the carrot — not much is needed — and mix it with the broccoli, radish, onion, leaves and coriander on a plate and set aside. It must not be dressed yet.
3. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and add a little more maple syrup if it is too sharp. Set aside.
4. Briefly roll the venison fillet in the dark soy sauce. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over a medium-high flame. Cook the fillet for about 15 seconds on each side, until browned. Keep rolling it around in the pan for about one minute. It should be well browned on the outer edge but very rare in the centre. Press with a finger — it should feel springy, but not too firm.
5. Lift the meat out of the pan, roll it in the sesame seeds on a plate and then put it in the freezer for 10 minutes to cool and firm up.
6. To serve the tataki, thinly slice the venison fillet (about 2mm). Divide it among the plates, with a spoonful of the wasabi mayonnaise beside it. Put a large handful of the salad on each plate then spoon over the dressing.