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| Great for dinner with friends: rich, aromatic and exotic, slices of ultra-tender beef in a thick unctuous gravy |
We're all worried about the cost of food and it's a delight to discover a supermarket bargain that doesn't involve chicken.
Approaching Easter holiday, at least 2 supermarkets were focusing on beef in addition to classic lamb and other traditional proteins. And it was beef in steak form rather than cuts for casseroles.
In search of an advertised special on rump steaks in Sainsbury's, 67 stumbled on a very good looking slab of skirt steak. Cleaned of fat & gristle, lean and plump, it was only £4 for 450gm/15.8oz.
Skirt steak is one of the tougher cuts of steak; it comes from the belly of a cow and is flat and long in shape. It requires careful cooking but has fabulous flavour.
Normally, long slow cooking is the key to tenderising skirt steak. But 67's recipe involves marinading the meat for a few hours; once cooking starts, it's ready for the table in just 20 minutes.
Served with wholemeal noodles (as in the photo), rice or potatoes plus a few colourful quick cooking veg, it becomes a mouthwatering colourful feast.
Note: the dish is strongly flavoured and is probably not for kids; maybe they could just be given the meat without the gravy?
Ingred:
1 x 500-750 gm/18-26 oz skirt or hanger steak
4 tbsp 25-30% salt-reduced soy sauce
1 tbsp 5-spice powder
150 ml rice wine/dry sherry/white wine or grape juice OR
100 ml good meat stock plus 50 ml rice wine/dry sherry/white wine/white grape juice ((67 used stock & sherry)
1 small red chilli, de-seeded, or 1/3 tsp chilli flakes or dash of **Chiu Chow Chilli oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 star anise (opt)
Method:
