Flank steak and edamame with wasabi dressing

I own a lot of spices – everything from your basic chili powder to the more exotic fennel pollen. I currently have six kinds of salt and three types of peppercorns. For most spices, I have both the ground and whole versions. I’ve got four kinds of cinnamon. Six varieties of dried chiles. The list goes on and on.

Some spices get used all the time – I’m particularly fond of smoked paprika and I go through a lot of cumin. Lately, my bottles of allspice berries and juniper berries have been dwindling because of all the brines I’ve made for pork. However, there are some spices that I just don’t use very often. I love the flavor of Chinese five spice, but I don’t use it nearly enough. Along the same lines, I have a bottle of wasabi powder that’s been languishing in my drawer.

I got the opportunity to use my wasabi powder when I made this flank steak with edamame. The recipe actually called for wasabi paste, but wasabi powder with a touch of water did the trick for me.

This recipe was really fast and easy. Flank steak is seasoned with salt, pepper and soy sauce, then seared until done to your liking. The steak is thinly sliced and served on a bed of edamame that’s been cooked with garlic, ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce. A mixture of wasabi and rice vinegar is drizzled over the top.

As usual, I made a few changes. To save on dishes, I cooked the steak in a skillet instead of grilling it, then cooked the edamame in the same pan. I don’t keep bottled ginger and garlic in my fridge, so I substituted fresh for both. I also added a handful of chopped cilantro leaves to the edamame.

To dress this up a bit, I used some artisan soy sauce that I received as a gift once. I think it was a good move – since the recipe is so minimal, it really gave the complex flavors of the sauce a chance to shine. I served steamed jasmine rice on the side.