Diet Friendly Sautéed Konnyaku in Teriyaki Sauce (Konnyaku Steak)

With just 80 calories per serving, Sautéed Konnyaku in Teriyaki Sauce is an incredibly delicious, which is great for people who are counting calories. Near-zero-calorie konnyaku is prepared carefully to make the texture of the konnyaku firmer and meaty. The garlic infused teriyaki sauce with butter is so delicious.

Sautéed Konnyaku in Teriyaki Sauce is called Konnyaku Steak (こんにゃくステーキ) in Japan, pronouncing ‘steak’ as ‘sutēki’. The word steak means a grilled dish of a thick cut of meat or fish. Konnyaku is a vegetable, so you wouldn’t call today’s dish a steak.

But the way you cook a piece of konnyaku in today’s recipe is like cooking a piece of steak and the appearance is similar to a sliced steak. Perhaps it is not 100% wrong to call it ‘Konnyaku Steak’.

Konnyaku is extremely low in calories. A 250g block of konnyaku is only 25 calories and the majority of it is water. Konnyaku is like a firm jelly, but it becomes meaty when prepared and cooked in a particular way. It is surprisingly filling, which is perfect for any dieters.

What’s in my Sautéed Konnyaku in Teriyaki Sauce

• A block of konnyaku
• Salt

The net weight of a block of konnyaku that you can buy at supermarkets is usually 250g/8.8oz in Australia. I used a dark-coloured konnyaku block instead of a whitish block, because the cooked konnyaku becomes dark in colour and resembles a sliced steak.

The salt is used to remove excess water from the konnyaku.

Teriyaki Sauce

• Butter
• Sliced garlic
• Soy Sauce
• Mirin
• Grated ginger

Although I call it Teriyaki Sauce, it is a Westernized rich teriyaki sauce with garlic and butter in it.

How to Make Sautéed Konnyaku in Teriyaki Sauce

Before sautéing konnyaku, you need to reduce the water within the konnyaku so that it takes on a meaty texture when cooked. For the same reason, I halved the thickness of the konnyaku and cut it into 8 small rectangle pieces.

Prepare Konnyaku

1. Cut a block of konnyaku into 2 crosswise, then slice them to make 4 thin sheets with half the original thickness.
2. Score both sides of each konnyaku piece in a crisscross pattern, then halve each piece.
3. Sprinkle salt over the konnyaku pieces, then microwave them to extract moisture out of them. Pat dry.

By halving the thickness of your konnyaku, you can remove the jelly-like texture when it is cooked. The reason why I halve the block crosswise before making 4 thin sheets is that making thin sheets from the original block is quite a challenge. It is easier to handle a small block to do it.

Scoring the surface of konnyaku allows better flavour penetration. I halved the scored pieces so that I can pick up each piece with chopsticks. If you are serving it with a knife & fork, you can actually serve a large piece.

Sauté Konnyaku

1. Dry roast the konnyaku pieces in the frying pan.
2. Add butter and garlic to the pan and sauté the konnyaku pieces until slightly browned.
3. Add soy sauce, mirin, and ginger to the pan, quickly mix, then turn the heat off.
4. Place the sautéed konnyaku pieces on a serving plate, drizzle the sauce in the pan over the konnyaku.

Since the amount of sauce is quite small, it is important not to leave the pan too long on the hot cooktop. I reduced the heat before adding the sauce to the pan, then turned the heat off after 5-10 seconds.

I made this Konnyaku Steak for Nagi recently. She was initially a bit sceptical because she knows the texture and the original flavour of konnyaku. Well, it actually doesn’t have much taste. But after one bite into my Konnyaku Steak, she got addicted to it. She was so excited to learn how low the calorie of 1 serving was.

I hope you try my Konnyaku Steak. You might become addicted to it as well.

Yumiko

4.5 from 2 votes

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Diet Friendly Sautéed Konnyaku in Teriyaki Sauce (Konnyaku Steak)

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

8 mins

Total Time

28 mins

 

With just 80 calories per serving, Sautéed Konnyaku in Teriyaki Sauce is an incredibly delicious, which is great for people who are counting calories. The garlic infused teriyaki sauce with butter is so rich and delicious.

Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.

Recipe Type: Appetiser, Main, Side

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: diet food, konnyaku recipe, vegetarian

Serves: 1 or 2 as a main

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

• 1 pack konnyaku (250g/8.8oz, note 1)
• ¼ tsp salt

Teriyaki Sauce

• 10g/0.4oz butter
• 1 clove garlic thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1½ tbsp mirin
• 1/8 tsp grated ginger

Serving

• Baby spinach salad
• Tomato wedges

Instructions

1. Halve the block of konnyaku crosswise. Then halve each block making two thin konnyaku sheets with half the original thickness (note 2).

2. Using a sharp knife, score shallow diagonal cuts in a crisscross pattern on both sides of each konnyaku piece (note 3).

3. Halve each konnyaku piece crosswise again, making 8 rectangle pieces.

4. Sprinkle salt all over the konnyaku pieces and leave for 15 minutes (note 4). Then pat dry with kitchen paper, wiping off the salt as much as possible.

5. Place the konnyaku pieces on a microwave-safe plate, without overlapping. Microwave them for 1 minute, then pat dry the konnyaku pieces (note 4).

6. Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat (no oil).

7. Place the konnyaku pieces on the pan and cook for about 1½ minutes, until the bottom of the konnyaku starts blistering (note 4).

8. Turn them over and cook further 1½ minutes.

9. Reduce the heat to medium and add butter and garlic slices to the pan.

10. Sauté the konnyaku pieces in the butter and garlic, turning over occasionally until both sides of the konnyaku get slightly burnt.

11. Reduce the heat to low, add the rest of the ingredients to the pan, and quickly mix before turning the heat off (note 5).

12. Keeping the pan on the cooktop with residual heat, turn the konnyaku pieces over, coating them with the thickened sauce. Remove the pan from the heat.

13. Transfer the konnyaku pieces to a serving plate. Scrape off the sauce with the garlic slices and put it over the konnyaku pieces.

Recipe Notes

1. Konnyaku comes in a pack with liquid. The net weight of the konnyaku pack sold at supermarkets and Asian grocery stores in Australia is usually 250g/8.8oz and the thickness of the konnyaku is about 2.5cm/1".

You will often find dark-coloured konnyaku and whitish konnyaku sold at grocery stores/supermarkets. I used the dark-coloured block because it resembles a sliced steak when cooked with the garlic infused Teriyaki Sauce with butter.

2. It might be easier to halve the thickness if you place the cut side down on a cutting board and slice it vertically from the top, instead of slicing it horizontally (see the photo showing vertical slicing in the section, PREPARE KONNYAKU)).

3. See the photo showing the crisscross pattern in the section, PREPARE KONNYAKU.

4. Sprinkling salt, microwaving, and cooking with no oil  is done to remove some water from the konnyaku. This will make the texture of the konnyaku.

5. You only need to cook 5-10 seconds before turning the heat off. The amount of the sauce is so small that it would burn if you left it on for much longer.

6. Nutrition per serving, assuming 2 servings.

serving: 151g calories: 82kcal fat: 4.2g (5%) saturated fat: 2.6g (13%) trans fat: 0.2g polyunsaturated fat: 0.2g monounsaturated fat: 1.1g cholesterol: 11mg (4%) sodium: 74mg (3%) carbohydrates: 11g (4%) dietary fibre: 4.6g (16%) sugar: 5.3g protein: 0.8g vitamin D: 0mcg (0%) calcium: 12mg (1%) iron: 0.3mg (1%) potassium: 38.2mg (1%)