My Birthday Garlic Steak Uni Rice Bowl

This Steak Uni Rice Bowl is the perfect mix of decadent and simple for my birthday book club celebration! In one bite, you get perfectly reverse-seared steak, fluffy garlic-infused rice, and fresh, briny uni. Every bite melts in your mouth! This Japanese fusion rice bowl is my way of adding a little something special for my birthday. If you’re looking for a really special “treat yourself” meal, this Garlic Steak Uni Rice Bowl is exactly what you should make.

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My Decadent Book Club Birthday Celebration

A birthday week with an uni steak bowl and book club is the perfect way to celebrate—good food, good company, and a great conversation. As I turn 31 this week, my goal for 2025 is to embrace a balanced approach, creating meals that are both good for you and satisfying.

There’s something satisfying about digging into a bowl of warm rice, buttery uni, and seared steak while debating The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden, which I’ve recently reviewed. It’s casual yet fancy, and exactly the kind of celebration that feels right—not over-the-top, just a solid mix of my favorite things with my favorite people.

Steak Uni Rice Bowl Ingredients

• 3 Steaks
• 2 cups rice
• 2 cups water or chicken stock
• 1 tbsp Everyday Garlic Oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp dashi powder
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp sugar
• Uni
• Furikkake

Reverse Sear Steak

When it comes to a thicker cut of steak, reverse sear is the way to go! Unlike the traditional method, where you sear the steak first, reverse sear starts in the oven. The steak is cooked at low temperature in the oven, before pan-searing. The low temperature locks in moisture, making a super satisfying, juicy bite. With the reverse sear method, the steak has even, tender texture, and a super flavorful crust. That salty, slightly caramelized crust matches so well with the briny uni, it’s simply irresistable.

If you’re short on time, you can also Air Fry your steak instead of reverse searing!

Fresh Uni – Sea Urchin Roe

If you’ve never had uni, or sea urchin roe, you’re in for a real treat. It has an ultra-creamy texture, almost like butter, with a sweet, slightly briny flavor. It’s rich but super delicate, and that flavor compliments the seared steak like a compound butter. The warmth of the steak ever-so-slightly softens the uni, making it extra silky. When mixed with the soy-dashi butter sauce, it creates the ultimate bite—savory, creamy, umami-packed, and absolutely unforgettable.

If you’re buying uni for the first time, look for fresh, bright orange or yellow lobes with a slight shine. You can usually find these at the sashimi section at a Japanese grocery store, or seafood markets. It’s definitely a splurge, and a little goes a long way.

Garlic Rice

The base of this Steak Uni Rice is a garlic rice that soaks up all of the juices and sauces from the delicious toppings. The key to this rice’s fragrant garlic flavor is kai dong’s Everyday Garlic Oil. It’s actually so particularly fragrant because of the combination of garlic and Taiwanese shallots.

To make this aroma extra infused, we first toast our rice grains. This extra step helps the oil infuse into every bite of rice with that garlicky flavor as it cooks.

Tangy Steak Sauce

To add some extra flavors for our steak rice, we’ve made a deliciously tangy steak sauce from soy sauce, lemon juice, sugar, butter, and dashi powder. It’s just the right amount of bright, lemony flavors to brighten up the whole rice bowl. Since the steak and uni are both quite buttery, this tart sauce cuts right through and gives you that perfect balance. With this sauce, I can enjoy bite after bite without feeling too heavy.

How To Make Steak Uni Bowl

1. Season the steak with salt, pepper, and oil.
2. Bake at 250F/120C for 30-45 minutes.
3. In the mean time, pan-fry rice for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add in water or chicken stock and Everyday garlic oil.
5. Cover and reduce to low simmer for 15-20 minutes.
6. Once the internal temperature of the steak hits around 120F or 49C, remove from the oven.
7. Sear steak in hot pan with oil for 1-2 minutes per side.
8. Add butter into the pan and baste the steak with the melted butter for 2-3 minutes.
9. In the same pan, add soy sauce, dashi, lemon juice, and sugar.
10. Let simmer until well combined.
11. Chop steak into bite sized pieces. Add on top of the rice.
12. Add some uni on top of the steak bites.
13. Drizzle on the steak sauce over the rice and toppings.

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