Gordon Ramsay's Unexpected Mayo Mix-In Makes A Spicier Steak Sandwich

British chef and television personality Gordon Ramsay is known for both his aggressive on-screen persona and his recipes for high-end British traditional dishes like beef Wellington, but he also makes plenty of simple, mouth-watering dishes that are easy to recreate. In a video short on his YouTube channel, Ramsay shows how to make a simple yet delicious steak sandwich at home. Most of the ingredients are fairly traditional, like ciabatta bread that he toasts in a pan, seared steak, onions, arugula, and a mayo spread.

In the video, we see Ramsay sear a steak with onion rounds in a pan, which is then braised in soy and  Worcestershire sauces, followed by slicing the steak, then building the sandwich. But the real magic from this sandwich comes from the wasabi mayo he makes. Ramsay dollops a large spoonful of mayonnaise into a bowl, followed by a squeeze of wasabi paste and a splash of rice vinegar. Ramsay uses at least a tablespoon of S&B Premium Wasabi Paste, but feel free to use more or less to your liking, depending on your wasabi heat tolerance. In the video, he also adds a spoonful of the savory brown pan liquid that he's been braising onion slices in to the bowl, but if you're not simultaneously doing this as well, feel free to skip it. You could add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce to the mayo mix to include those salty, savory notes from Ramsay's pan liquid if you're wanting to more closely follow his exact recipe.

If you're thinking that wasabi might be a strange ingredient to add to mayo destined for a steak sandwich, we already know that pairing horseradish with steak makes and elevated flavor experience, and horseradish is more similar to wasabi than you may have guessed. Horseradish and wasabi both belong to the same family that includes cabbages, cruciferous vegetables, and mustards. In fact, horseradish is commonly used to make wasabi paste and the wasabi condiment side dish that you see at sushi restaurants, as a lot of wasabi is either fake or mostly dyed horseradish due to the wasabi plant's sensitivity and short shelf life.

Horseradish and wasabi are perfect pairings for steak as their pungent spiciness helps to counterbalance and cut through the richness of the red meat. While you may not want to spread the wasabi paste directly onto the bread or the sliced steak, mixing it into a mayo is a genius way of amping up the sandwich with a subtle spread. From chipotle mayo to sriracha aioli, there's nothing quite like adding a spicy, tangy, flavorful twist to what can sometimes be a slightly bland condiment. If you're not sure where to start in trying to recreate Ramsay's wasabi steak sandwich at home, start with our ribeye steak sandwich with caramelized onions recipe, and swap the horseradish for wasabi paste in the aioli.