Lemongrass-Ginger Coconut Grilled Steak
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All grilled steak is the same…or is it? Not when you’re talking about Anna Stockwell’s lemongrass-ginger coconut grilled steak (from her new cookbook, For the Table). It’s slightly sweet and deeply flavorful, with a “why’s this so tasty?” secret ingredient to thank. (It’s fish sauce.)
If you’ve never cooked skirt steak, the shape and size can be intimidating—but you’re in good hands. “Cutting the skirt steak against the grain is very important to make your eating experience pleasant,” she explains, “but the shape of a skirt steak is made to trick you. You might think you should cut it into strips crosswise, but think again: Turn your section of skirt steak so that the stripes of the grain go side to side in front of you instead of up and down, and then slice it into strips through those stripes, which will mean you’re cutting it lengthwise. You can also turn it on the diagonal and cut sort of lengthwise on a bias, as long as you’re cutting against the grain.”
Voilà, tender, juicy steak that’s a welcome change from your usual summer fare.
Recipe excerpt from the new book For the Table: Easy, Adaptable, Crowd-Pleasing Recipes by Anna Stockwell, published by Abrams. Text © 2022 by Anna Stockwell. Photography by Chelsea Kyle.
Ingredients
3 pounds skirt steak, cut into 6-inch pieces
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup coconut milk
1 stalk lemongrass, smashed and coarsely chopped
One 3-inch piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped (3 tablespoons)
2 garlic cloves, crushed and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Chile crisp or crushed red pepper flakes, for serving (optional)
Flaky sea salt, for serving
Directions
1. Season the steak on all sides with the salt and place in a baking dish.
2. In a blender or food processor, pulse the coconut milk, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, sugar and fish sauce until as smooth as possible—it will never get totally smooth with the tough lemongrass fiber, but that’s OK. Pour over the steak, turn to coat and let sit at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. (You can make the marinade mixture up to 1 day in advance, just store it in the fridge and give it a good stir before pouring over your steak since the coconut fat may have separated and solidified.)
3. Prepare a grill for high heat. Grill the steak pieces, turning once halfway through, until deeply charred, about 4 minutes per side. Let sit 10 minutes before slicing against the grain.
4. Assemble the sliced steak on a serving platter and drizzle lightly with chile crisp or sprinkle with red pepper flakes, if using, or just sprinkle it with flaky sea salt.
Note: The recipe can easily be halved to serve 2 to 4 people, or doubled to serve 12 to 14.
451 calories
32g fat
3g carbs
40g protein
1g sugars