The most important ingredient is the Beef Brisket which we picked up from the lovely butchers at Keelham Farm Shop. If you can get a point cut, go for that. Rolled Brisket is fine too, just means you need to cut the string and unroll it. This recipe is for 2kg of meat.

The Curing Process

To obtain that wonderful pink colour, you’ll need Sodium Nitrite (with an ‘i’ — Nitrate is slightly different.) This is quite tricky to find, I eventually came across sausagemaking.org. They call it “Cure Powder No.1" which is a mix of 6.25% Sodium Nitrite and 93.75% Salt. While classed as a toxic chemical, when used in the correct quantities it is perfectly safe. Another advantage is that it kills any nasties (it prevents Botulism.) You’ll want 2.5g of Powder No.1 per 1kg of meat. Any more or less is bad so get some scales that are accurate to the gram.

If you live near Leeds I can sort you out with some, as I have enough Nitrite to last me lifetime. Just buy me a pint.

An unintentional side effect of this recipe is that you’ll now need to purchase a spice rack. Or just do what I’ve done which is to scatter spices across the kitchen. Your choice.

The first stage of making Pastrami is to brine it for 6 days. This turns your brisket into corned beef.

You then chill the meat in a crust for 12 hours. After that we steam it for 3 hours in the oven.

Brining

Ingredients for the brine

• 2kg Beef Brisket
• ½ Teaspoon Peppercorns
• ½ Teaspoon Coriander
• ½ Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
• ½ Teaspoon Chilli Flakes
• ½ Teaspoon Allspice berries
• ½ Teaspoon Cloves
• ¼ Teaspoon Ground Mace
• ¼ Teaspoon Ginger
• 1 Bay Leaf
• ¼ Cinnamon Stick
• 270g Table Salt
• 5g Sodium Nitrite (Curing Powder No.1 — 2.5g per kilogram of meat)
• 200g Granulated Sugar
• 220g Brown Sugar
• 85g Honey
• 5 Garlic Cloves, crushed or chopped finely
• 3¾ Litres of Water

How to Brine the Brisket

1. Lightly toast the peppercorns, coriander, and mustard seeds for 3 minutes then grind them up in a spice grinder.
2. Add the ground spices to a large casserole dish along with the all the remaining ingredients for the brine.
3. Pop in on the hob for a few minutes or until all the salt and sugar has dissolved.
4. Stick all this liquid in a something big enough to hold it the meat. Pop a plate on the top and weigh it down with some cans. It’s important that the meat stays completely submerged for 6 days.

Crusting the Pastrami

Ingredients for the crust

• 3 Tablespoons Peppercorns
• 3 Tablespoons Coriander Seeds
• 1½ Tablespoons Mustard Seeds
• 1½ Tablespoons Fennel Seeds
• 100ml Shiro Dashi

1. Take your freshly corned beef out of the fridge, rinse thoroughly and discard the brine. Whizz all your ingredients up in your spice grinder.
2. Dry the beef, then cover all over with your crust mix.
3. Pour (as evenly as you can) the Shiro Dashi across your beef. This adds a smokey flavour to the beef, since we’re not smoking this.
4. Cover the meat and put in the fridge for 12 hours.

Steaming the Pastrami

1. Pre-heat your oven to 120°C.
2. Put on a roasting tray, with a cup of water underneath the meat. Make sure there’s a big enough gap between your meat and the bottom of the tray, so the meat isn’t sat directly in the water.
3. Cover tightly with tin foil.
4. Steam for 3-4 hours. Use a meat thermometer to check it reaches 75°C.
5. Once it’s hit the right temperature, remove and let the meat rest for at least 2 hours.

You’re done.