The Perfect Steak
Summary: You can’t get a good steak in China. I’ve been to restaurants up and down the country with friends and relatives, and often, they’ll order a steak. They are always disappointed. It’s usually pail coloured and lacking flavour. They either over cook it or else, if you as for it rare, they serve the steak cold. And I mean refrigerator cold. I have been served steak here that looked perfectly char grilled on the outside but was icy cold and raw inside. However, rare meat is strange to the Chinese, more often they will just cook the meat till it is dried up and tough as old shoe leather. But it shouldn’t be so. There are few things easier than cooking a steak. To cook a perfect steak needs a little more knowledge and a marinade. So this recipe is one of my steak marinades.
Ingredients
- 500g Beef Steak Meat
- 4 table spoons of Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- Ground Black Pepper
- Pinch of salt.
Instructions
The longer time you have to marinade your meat the better. Pace the meat on a plate or flat bottomed dish, cover with the sauce and spices. Turn the meat in the dish and rub with your fingers to ensure that the spices get into the meat. Place into the fridge and chill until ready to cook. The longer the better. If possible, do overnight or else do in the morning for eating in the evening. However, if you are pressed for time, half an hour will do.
There are several choices for cooking. You can shallow fry, you can grill, or you can BBQ. I have always found the BBQ gives the best steak. It will also put on that char grilled stripy pattern that looks so mouthwateringly tasty. Whichever you do, make sure that you warm things up. Get you pan or grill hot before you put the steak in. You want to hear that hissing sizzling sound as soon as the steak hits the pan.
How long should you cook for? Well that depends on whither you like your steak rare, medium or well done. A rare steak neads only a couple of minutes on each side. You’ll notice the steak contracting slightly in the pan, then turn it over. Cook for just a short time to give the other side some colour and then serve. The steak should be cooked on the outside by red raw on the inside, though not cold. When pressed with a finger, the steak should feel like the cheek flesh on the side of your face. Soft and springy.
A medium steak should be cooked slightly longer after turning. When pressed with a finger, it should feel like the flesh on your upper lip. When cut through, a medium steak with be pink on the inside but not rare.
A well done steak takes just a little longer cooking time. If pressed with a finger it will be firmer than a medium steak. Something akin to the flesh on the front of your chin. Firm but not hard. If it feels like the flesh on your forehead, then you have over done it and should start again.
Serve the steak as soon as cooked along with potatoes and vegetables of your choice.
Quick Notes
My personal favourite is to BBQ the meat quickly on both sides, leaving it rare in the centre. This will leave the steak soft and juicy. Well done steaks usually end up being tough and dry to eat.
Preparation time: 45 min
Number of servings (yield): 4
Meal type: dinner
Culinary tradition: English
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