Uni Filet

This wow-worthy surf and turf dish comes from Salt + Charcoal, a Japanese grill in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Tender filet mignon is perfectly cooked, then topped with creamy, oceanic uni (sea urchin) and sweet-salty salmon roe, with seaweed and sesame to complement the rich flavors of meat and sea. The recipe does call for briefly torching the sea urchin, which you can easily accomplish with a kitchen torch—a handy little tool that makes you feel like a bad-ass but is actually really easy to use. It also calls for seaweed salt, which is salt made from seaweed, rather than salt with flakes of dried seaweed added; it’s also known as moshio, and you can buy it online, or look for in in Japanese or Asian markets, or in specialty shops.

For a more low-key take on surf and turf, try our Grilled Shrimp Boil Skewers recipe, and for another excellent way to cook filet, get our Filet Mignon with Blue Cheese Butter recipe.