Today in the culinary world steaks are prepared from fish, veal, pork, and other meats, but beef is still considered a classic dish. An impeccably cooked steak can be a tough task even for a seasoned cook, as sometimes the meat comes out dry and tough, scorching on the outside before being cooked on the inside. To prevent this from happening, and the dish turned out to be correct and truly tasty, you should know some subtleties.
- For the steak, choose a beef tenderloin of a mature animal, but not old or young. The meat should be red or dark red in color, but not pink or burgundy. It is advisable to choose parts of the carcass with fewer tendons and powerful muscles, with fat evenly distributed throughout the piece.
- You can determine the softness of the steak with your finger by pressing on the raw meat – the finger is easily immersed, leaving a deep hole, which, after pressing, returns to its original position. If this happens, then the meat is good. If the hole does not expand, the meat is not fresh enough, and if it is difficult to press on it, the steak will be tough.
- For a tasty steak, the meat should be properly prepared – remove the film and upper tendons. Cut a piece that is not too thin, and at least 7 cm long. Otherwise, the meat will lose moisture, shrink and become dry. Then, in the center of the piece on the side where the fibers are located along, an incision is made to the middle of the thickness, and the meat is opened like a butterfly.
- The steak is marinated from 12 to 48 hours, and before going to the fire, it is well dried with a paper towel. The traditional marinade mixture is vegetable oil, soy sauce, wine vinegar, salt, and seasonings.
- The frozen stack is thawed in the refrigerator for 12-14 hours. After that, it is wiped dry and left for 20 minutes before marinating, so that it warms up to room temperature. It is not recommended to defrost the steak in the microwave. Since the top layers of meat are already starting to cook in defrosting mode, the middle remains cold. Subsequently, it will be difficult to get an even roast. Also, it is not advised to defrost meat at room temperature and in warm water.
- Meat is fried exclusively in a well-heated heavy frying pan or grill pan. In this case, the pan should not smoke, otherwise, the steak will burn on the outside, but inside will not have time to cook, which will turn out tough. During frying, the protein quickly curls up on the surface of the piece and prevents the liquid from escaping, so the steak is first fried over high heat for 1 minute on each side. This will “seal” the fibers and the meat will retain the juice, which means the steak will be juicy and soft. Next, the dish is brought to the desired degree of roasting at a lower temperature.
- The finished meat should be left to lie down for a while. During this time, the juice will be distributed inside the piece, the temperature inside and outside will equalize, and the steak will become warm, tender, and juicy everywhere.
- Serve the steak on warm plates, then it will not cool down so quickly. For use, you need sharp knives without chipping so that you can even cut the meat.
