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This Memorial Day, stay in, grill out and learn to love skirt steak

By America's Test Kitchen, Tribune Content Agency on

Step aside, strip and sirloin. If you're not grilling skirt steak this Memorial Day, you should be: It's a great cut for marinating, it cooks in minutes and it's especially beefy, tender, and juicy a-- as long as you buy the right kind and use some tricks to realize its full potential.

Grilling skirt steak starts at the supermarket. There are two types of skirt steak -- the inside skirt and the outside skirt -- that come from separate parts of the cow and therefore have markedly different textures. Outside skirt is the more tender of the two and the more desirable cut for grilling.

In the Test Kitchen, we don't typically marinate steak since we have found that marinades don't penetrate more than a few millimeters beyond its surface. But because skirt steak is so thin, with loose, open fibers and lots of nooks and crannies, a marinade can have a big effect. We knew a garlicky, citrusy, Cuban-style mojo would really stand up to the rich, buttery beef. And we wanted a double dose of it, so we decided to use it as a marinade and in a sauce to drizzle over the cooked meat.

For good browning and extra beefy flavor, we included two secret ingredients in the recipe: soy sauce and baking soda. Soy sauce is packed with savory glutamates, so we included some in the marinade to give the meat a beefy boost. And added to the oil we rubbed onto the steaks before placing them on the grill, baking soda helped create more substantial browning.

Once the steaks were off the grill and had rested to redistribute their juices, we carefully sliced them against the grain and at an angle before drizzling on the mojo sauce. The beautifully seared meat was rich, well-seasoned, juicy and tender, and the vibrant sauce played off it beautifully.

Grilled Mojo-Marinated Skirt Steak

Serves 4 to 6

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon grated lime zest plus 1/4 cup juice (2 limes)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest plus 1/2 cup juice

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

 

2 pounds skirt steak, trimmed and cut with grain into 6- to 8-inch-long steaks

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Combine garlic, soy sauce, 2 tablespoons lime juice, cumin, oregano, 3/4 teaspoon salt, the orange juice and pepper flakes in a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Place the steaks in the dish. Flip the steaks to coat both sides with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, flipping the steaks halfway through refrigerating.

2. Remove the steaks from marinade and transfer the marinade to a small saucepan. Pat the steaks dry with paper towels. Combine 1 tablespoon oil and the baking soda in a small bowl. Rub the oil mixture evenly onto both sides of each steak.

3. Bring the marinade to boil over high heat and boil for 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl and stir in lime zest, orange zest, the remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice and remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Set aside sauce.

4A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: About 25 minutes before grilling, open the bottom vent completely. Light a large chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When the top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open the lid vent completely. Heat the grill until hot, about 5 minutes.

4B. FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat the grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn off one burner (if using a grill with more than two burners, turn off the burner farthest from primary burner) and leave other burner(s) on high.

5. Clean and oil the cooking grate. Cook steaks on hotter side of grill until well browned and the meat registers 130 to 135 F (for medium), 2 to 4 minutes per side. (Move the steaks to cooler side of grill before taking temperature to prevent them from overcooking.) Transfer steaks to a cutting board, tent with aluminum foil, and let them rest for 10 minutes. Cut the steaks on bias against grain into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices on serving platter, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of sauce and serve, passing extra sauce separately.

Notes: Skirt steaks come from two different muscles and are sometimes labeled as inside skirt steak or outside skirt steak. The more desirable outside skirt steak measures 3 to 4 inches wide and 1/2- to 1-inch thick.

Avoid the inside skirt steak, which typically measures 5 to 7 inches wide and 1/4- to 1/2-inch thick, as it is very chewy.

Skirt steak is most tender when cooked to medium (130 to 135 F). Thin steaks cook very quickly, so we recommend using an instant-read thermometer for a quick and accurate measurement.

(For 25 years, confident cooks in the know have relied on America's Test Kitchen for rigorously tested recipes developed by professional test cooks and vetted by 60,000 at-home recipe testers. See more online at www.americastestkitchen.com/TCA.)


 

 

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