Sirloin steaks with Cafe de Manilla butter

This twist on Café de Paris butter substitutes spicy shrimp paste for the usual anchovies.

Credit: Derek Swalwell

• serves

  4

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 4 x 220 g beef sirloin steaks, fat trimmed
• French fries and steamed green beans, to serve

Café de Manilla butter

• 60 ml (¼ cup) vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 cm-piece fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 large Asian red eschalot, finely chopped
• 3 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 tbsp spicy shrimp paste (see Note)
• 125 g butter, softened, roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp coconut vinegar (see Note) or apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• ½ cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1 egg yolk

Freezing time 1 hour

Instructions

To make Café de Manilla butter, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger, stirring for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add eschalot, stirring for 3 minutes or until softened. Add tomatoes and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, for 3 minutes or until slightly caramelised. Add shrimp paste and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter until pale and smooth. Add lemon juice, vinegar, parsley, coriander, egg yolk and shrimp paste mixture. Season with pepper, then beat to combine. Place Café de Manilla butter on a sheet of plastic wrap, roll into a 4 cm-diameter log and freeze for 1 hour or until firm.

Heat a chargrill or frying pan over medium–high heat. Brush steaks with remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, season with salt and pepper, then cook for 4 minutes each side for medium–rare or until cooked to your liking. Remove from heat,  loosely cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Preheat grill to high. Cut Café de Manilla butter into 4 thick slices, place on top of steaks and grill for 1 minute or until starting to melt. Serve with fries and green beans.

Note

• Shrimp paste comes in regular, sweet and spicy varieties. It is available from Filipino food stores.

• Coconut vinegar is from Filipino food stores.

Photography Derek Swalwell

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.