Name: Ichi-E
Address: Johan Cruijff Boulevard 175, Amsterdam, 1101 EJ, NL
Telephone: 020 691 0231
Price range: €€
Rating: 3.3

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Ichi-E

United States

Beef Negimaki is a visually striking and deeply flavorful Japanese dish that has found a devoted following both in its home country and across the world, particularly in the United States. At its core, the dish consists of thinly sliced strips of beef—typically a high-quality cut like ribeye or sirloin—that are meticulously wrapped around fresh scallions (known as 'negi' in Japanese). These rolls are then broiled or grilled to perfection and glazed with a rich, savory-sweet teriyaki sauce. The result is a harmonious blend of textures and flavors: the tender, savory beef provides a rich meatiness, while the scallions inside offer a crisp, fresh contrast and a mild oniony bite that cuts through the richness of the meat and the sauce.

The origins of Beef Negimaki are somewhat debated, with some culinary historians suggesting it evolved from traditional Japanese rolled dishes, while others point to its popularity exploding in Japanese-American cuisine, particularly in New York City during the mid-20th century. It became a staple in Japanese steakhouses and sushi restaurants, often served as an appetizer or a main course. The preparation requires skill and patience; the beef must be sliced paper-thin to ensure it cooks quickly and wraps tightly without falling apart. The glaze, made from soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar, caramelizes on the surface of the meat, creating a glossy, appetizing finish that is signature to refined teriyaki dishes.

Culturally, Beef Negimaki represents the Japanese philosophy of 'shun'—using seasonal ingredients at their peak—though scallions and beef are available year-round, making it a reliable favorite. It is often enjoyed in Izakayas (Japanese gastropubs) as a companion to drinks, or as part of a larger kaiseki or teppanyaki meal. The dish is not just about taste but also presentation; the rolls are cut into bite-sized cylinders, revealing the beautiful spiral of beef and the bright green center of the scallion, resembling a flower or a wheel.

For those looking to enjoy Beef Negimaki, it pairs exceptionally well with a dry sake or a crisp Japanese lager, which helps cleanse the palate between bites of the sweet and savory meat. It also serves as an excellent topping for a bowl of steamed white rice, allowing the extra sauce to soak into the grains. Whether found in a high-end Tokyo eatery or a bustling neighborhood spot in Manhattan, Beef Negimaki remains a testament to the simple yet profound elegance of Japanese cooking techniques.

Beef Negimaki

Mochi is Japanese rice cake made from mochigome, a short-grain glutinous rice that is steamed and then pounded until the grains disappear into a single smooth, stretchy, faintly sweet mass. It is eaten in dozens of forms: plain blocks toasted until they puff and served with soy sauce or in the New Year soup ozōni, soft rounds filled with sweet red bean paste as daifuku, dusted with kinako soybean flour, grilled on skewers as dango, and wrapped around a strawberry as ichigo daifuku. The pounding, mochitsuki, is done in a wooden mortar with a heavy mallet and is still a New Year ritual in many towns, though most mochi sold today comes from a machine that does the same job. Mochi ice cream, a ball of ice cream in a thin mochi skin, is a Japanese-American invention from Los Angeles in the 1990s and is now the form most people outside Japan meet first.

The rice is soaked overnight, steamed rather than boiled so it stays dry enough to pound, and worked while hot; the result sets as it cools and hardens within a day, which is why fresh mochi is a different product from the shelf-stable blocks. Confectioners making daifuku often use a shortcut called gyūhi, where glutinous rice flour, sugar and water are cooked into a paste, because the added sugar keeps the skin soft for longer; a good shop will tell you which it is. The skin is stretched thin around a ball of anko, either smooth koshian or chunky tsubuan, and the whole piece is dusted with potato or corn starch to stop it sticking. Toasted mochi is a different technique: a dry block on a grill or in a toaster oven swells to twice its size, blisters and browns, and is eaten at once before it collapses.

Fresh mochi should give under light pressure and spring back slowly, stretch rather than tear when pulled, and have a clean rice taste with the sweetness coming from the filling rather than the skin. The skin on a daifuku should be thin and even, a couple of millimetres, with the bean paste visible through it in places and the fruit, if there is one, ripe and cold. Mark down a stiff or chalky piece, which is yesterday's mochi, a thick skin that is mostly starch, a skin so sweet it is clearly gyūhi sold as mochi, bean paste that is gritty or tastes only of sugar, and mochi ice cream with a leathery or frozen-hard shell. It is dense and should be eaten in small bites; that is a safety point, not a style note.

Mochi

For my lunch I ordered a bento box with beef rolls, fried rice, some greens, and veggies on the side.

The beef was tasty. Tender and full of umami. It was actually my first time trying these beef rolls and I really liked them. The sauce on top wasn’t really needed. The filling had enough flavor on its own. Everything inside the roll was well-cooked and worked nicely with the meat.

The rice was a bit dry but still had a nice flavor to it. Simple and comforting.

Zucchini with mushrooms was just okay. A bit tricky to eat since it was hard to bite through and I only had chopsticks. Would’ve been easier with a knife.

Portion-wise it was a bit small for me but overall a nice experience. I’d definitely give it another go.

My first try of this dessert and i can tell it is not something i will try again.

A non-sweet layer and ice cream inside. Layer doesn’t have any taste. Ice cream was normal. There were three different types of mochi but the only difference was the ice cream inside.

If it is your first time just give it a try otherwise i would go for an only ice cream. And it is 10 euros!

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