Dry brining flank steak tenderizes it. Marinating it in ginger, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, scallions, hot sauce and more makes it a show-stopping main course. Recipe below.
I use the word flavorful a lot here, I know. Sometimes, I think I should reserve it for flank steak. Before going any further, let me share my own idea of what flavorful means. It’s not a one-note taste bud bomb, like a buffalo wing or a lemon wedge. To me, flavorful means engaging multiple corners of the palate at once, bringing layer after layer of tastes and combining them beautifully. If done right, flavorful means stopping conversation at the dinner table with the first bite. Which is what the flank steak pictured here did on Labor Day.
Flank steak makes such feats easy. Not only is it one of the meatiest tasting cuts of beef on its own—it takes well to marinating. It’s usually one of the more affordable cuts too, which makes me wonder why it isn’t more popular.
Actually, I know why. Flank steak, cut from hardworking abdominal muscles with a pronounced grain of long muscle fibers, has a reputation for being tough. And it can be, if overcooked or carved improperly. But cooked to medium-rare or just barely medium and then sliced thin across the grain, it’s plenty tender. And, well, flavorful.
Still, a recent comment by a reader on an old post about tenderizing notoriously chewy (but also delicious) lamb shoulder chops with kosher salt had me wondering if the same technique would make flank steak even more tender. The technique is called dry brining. Essentially, you coat the meat with a generous layer of coarse kosher salt and let it sit for a while. Then you rinse the salt off. I hear alarm bells going off everywhere right now: “But that will suck all the juices out of the meat!” It does, at first. Then the juices are drawn back into the meat, along with the salt, changing the protein cell structure and tenderizing the steak (or lamb or pork or…).
It also flavors the meat, so don’t add any more salt before cooking—or use particularly salty ingredients in your marinade. Also, don’t use table salt for dry brining. It’s too fine, and too much will be absorbed by the meat. You certainly can make this recipe without the dry brining step. Just season the steak with a little salt before putting it on the grill. But it really did make the meat incredibly tender.
The marinade is a mash-up of a number of recipes I’ve seen, plus some of my own ideas. It’s an international mash-up too, of ingredients that not only cross various Asian boundaries, but find their ways to other continents. One, the wildly (and deservedly) popular Sriracha hot sauce, is actually an American product created in the suburbs of Los Angeles by a Chinese-Vietnamese immigrant, David Tran. For as many big flavors as you’ll see on the ingredients list—and for as fragrant as the marinade is when you’ve mixed it together—the resulting flavor on the grilled steak is pleasantly restrained. It doesn’t overpower the rich meaty flavor of the steak; it just makes it—okay, last time for this post—more flavorful.
Grilled Asian Flank Steak
Serves 4 to 6
1-1/2-pound flank steak
kosher salt (do not use table salt)
For marinade:
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions (about 1)
1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped (see Kitchen Notes)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
zest of 1 lime
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce (available in Asian markets and many supermarkets)
2 teaspoons Sriracha (or other hot sauce)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pat steak dry with paper towels. Season generously on both sides with kosher salt and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let it rest on counter for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, make marinade. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. After steak has been coated with salt for 1 hour, unwrap it and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels and place in a large zippered plastic bag. Add marinade to bag, being careful to coat steak on both sides. Seal bag, forcing out most of the air inside and, manipulating bag from the outside, work rub marinade against surfaces of the steak. Refrigerate at least 6 hours and preferably overnight.
Grill steak. About 1/2 hour before the grill is ready for cooking, remove steak from fridge to bring it to room temperature. Prepare grill for direct grilling and medium-high heat. Remove steak from zippered bag and scrape off excess marinade (I used the back edge of a table knife). Discard marinade.
Brush grill grate with a little oil and place steak directly over coals (or gas heat source). Close grill and cook for about 4 minutes. Turn and cook other side for about 4 minutes, with grill lid closed. If first side isn’t sufficiently browned, flip and cook for maybe another minute. Steak should be medium-rare to medium at this point. Do not cook more than than 10 minutes; when flank steak is overcooked (aka well done) it becomes tough.
Transfer to cutting board or platter and tent with foil. Let steak rest for 5 minutes, then slice into 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick slices—the thinner, the better—across the grain. Serve.
Kitchen Notes
Don’t fear the heat. Yes, the recipe calls for an entire jalapeño pepper, seeds and all, and two teaspoons of hot sauce. But most of this gets scraped off after the steak is done marinating. The heat was barely noticeable.
Gosh, I haven’t had a flank steak in ages. And I agree it’s one of the more, well, flavorful cuts in the meat case. I’ll bet it isn’t popular in part because it isn’t more tender — my impression is that a lot of people think only tender meat is “good” meat — and it takes a bit of time (if you marinate), knowledge (if you don’t know to cut the meat in thin slices across the grain, chewing is a challenge), and skill to prepare. I’m all for easy in the kitchen, but my impression is an awful lot of basic kitchen knowledge is being lost these days. Good recipe and post – thanks.
I love this post!
I’ve been reading quite a bit lately about salting meat before marinating but I haven’t tried it. Flank steak is one of my favourite cuts and would be a perfect candidate. Up here in Canada flank steak is no longer cheap.
I can tell by looking at the recipe that this steak would disappear lightning fast at my house.
It’s now printed and will be making this.
I also have never salted steak for a period of time before cooking. Am anxious to try, though the fish sauce will have to be replaced with a bit of soy sauce for family preferences. I’ve never rinsed and wiped off that pre-cooking salt. Am really interested in the outcome. Even here, the typical 1 and one half pound flank steak that’s choice is about $ 15. Growing up (I’m 64) it was a poor man’s special. The jalapeno adds an unusual twist to the typical everyone’s favorite flank steak recipe. Thanks. Maybe next weekend for part of football season! On re-reading, I’m rethinking that use of soy sauce – don’t like fish sauce??? Leave out all together??? Can it handle less of that fish/soy sauce flavor??
Kitchenriffs, the thing is, if you know what to do, cooking flank steak properly is crazy easy. And you’re right—learning basic kitchen knowledge is the basis of cooking well. Learn those skills and you can cook fearlessly.
Thanks, Randi! Let me know how you like it when you try it.
Barbara, a couple of things I’ve read suggest using a little light soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce in place of fish sauce. Good luck!
I don’t know where you folks are that flank steak is cheap. It was $9.98 / lb. yesterday at Safeway. I remember when flank steak was thrown away or ground for hamburger. I lived on flank steak that I grilled on my tiny balcony hibachi when I was in college. Now, my economical beef cut of choice is a tri-tip roast at $6.00 per pound.
Has anyone tried doing a reduction of the marinade with wine? Roast the jalapeño first, perhaps.
Paul, I paid $6.99 a pound for flank steak for this recipe. It’s interesting, though, how certain cuts of meat can suddenly go from cheap to pricey. I remember when chicken wings were practically given away—and were primarily bought for making chicken stock. The reduction you suggest is intriguing. It would totally change the character of the dish, but that’s the beauty of flank steak—it’s open to all kinds of flavorings.
This recipe is similar to a marinade that I do with meat, but I confess that I do not salt the meat before hand. I will try this. It looks intriguing.
Very tasty recipe. I’ve never thought about the salt tenderizing technique with flank steak. I’ll take your word that it works and use this for my next flank recipe. Also, I think the term flavorful is unique to the beholder. Something could be flavorful to you or me, but not to the guy trying our recipe… rather it could be a mouthful of bam to him but not enjoyable. I’m personally a fan a BIG flavor but not everyone agrees with that. That’s what makes cooking interesting!
My wife’s longtime flank-steak treatment was to lightly stab a paring knife or large carving fork, dozens of times in steak; insert garlic slivers (four or five cloves julienned) as you might do with a lamb shank. Then slather both sides with a paste of ketchup (or Sriracha, if desired) and Dijon-style mustard, onion powder, Worcestershire, paprika (hot or sweet) plus dry herbs (say, tarragon); marinate in fridge for as long as you have. Bring steak to room temp; grill, with marinade still on steak, for 10 minutes total (max). Let is set untouched for 5 to 10 minutes before carving.
Me, I just sprinkle steak with commercial “Montreal” rub; if you make your own dry rub, don’t forget the brown sugar.
In our area (NY suburbs, 2013), flank steaks range from $4 (rarely) to $8 a pound. Same for hangers. The most desired is skirt, which is rarely below $7. All these are USDA “choice”; “prime” is not in our ballpark.
— PM