If you’re a meat lover, skirt steak on your plate is a dream come true. This quick-cooking, thin cut stays tender and is loaded with beefy flavor. After briefly searing in a hot pan, it becomes juicy. Here’s how you can cook skirt steak perfectly in a few easy steps.
Steps To Cook Skirt Steak
Ingredients
- One teaspoon kosher salt
- One pound skirt steak
- Two tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
The skirt steak and black pepper should be added as per your taste. Also, the ingredients are for four servings.
Cut The Steak
The first step is cutting the skirt steak. If it comes in a long strip, chop it into two to three small pieces. These should be five to seven inches long. Next, allow them to fit in a pan. So, you can easily slice them later.
Season And Dry The Steak
Dry each steak with paper towels thoroughly on each side. Ensure that the surface is very dry. So, it can keep the meat surface brown. After that, be generous in seasoning each side of the steaks with pepper and salt.
Heat The Pan
The third step is to heat a large cast-iron skillet of around 12 inches. You can do it over high heat for around three minutes. Add the olive oil once all of it becomes hot. Then, carefully add steak to the pan using tongs and press down firmly. Do it on the surface for better contact a few more times.
Cook The Steak
Until the first side becomes brown, keep searing. Do it for around two to four minutes. How much searing your steak requires depends on the thickness of the meat.
Cook for another two to four minutes after flipping. If it’s medium done, cook the steak until the internal temperature becomes 130 degrees Fahrenheit. You may even work in two batches if needed.
Rest The Steak
Loosely cover the steak with a foil after transferring it to a cutting board. Then, allow it to rest for around ten minutes before slicing. Serve the steak once you slice it.
Slicing And Serving The Steak
Slice the steak across the grain by holding the carving knife at 45 degrees angle. Make sure the slices are at least one-fourth inch thick. Finally, transfer the skirt steak to a plate to serve.
Serving Skirt Steak
You can serve grilled vegetables and roasted potatoes with skirt steak as the main dish. Tangy avocado chimichurri is a choice of many people. So, you may slice it up for fajitas with onions and sautéed peppers. Then, with greens like romaine, you can put it on a salad. Arugula, tangy vinaigrette, and spring mix.
After that, you can chop it to make nachos and quesadillas. Sometimes when people have leftovers, they look forward to the next morning’s breakfast. Finally, you can enjoy your skirt steak with sliced avocados, sauteed spinach, and over-easy eggs.
Is It Good To Marinate Skirt Steak?
If you wish to add interesting aromas and flavors to the meat, marinating is the best way. There’s a unique accordion-like structure of skirt steak. Further, the surface area increases because of coarse muscle fibers. So, it means your steak will capture more flavor. Marination also gives your meat a tasty boost.
Also, you do not require more than thirty minutes for marinating because the taste shouldn’t overpower the beef. You can instead serve with some sauce for additional topping or dripping. Before cooking, you can dry the meat. This process happens after marinating.
How Is Flank Steak And Skirt Seak Different?
Both flank and skirt steak are lean beef cuts. These are pan-seared, stir-fried, and grilled. Flank primal gets you flank steak. So, it is located next to the skirt. However, flank steak is noticeably thicker.
If you want to know the difference visually, Flank steak runs lengthwise, whereas skirt steak runs across the meat’s width. So you want to end up with a tender slice with both steaks, cut across the grain. You can prepare any of the two, whichever you and your family like!
Conclusion
When you prepare skirt steak, keep the windows open. If you have vents, turn them on. It is because steak searing makes a lot of smoke. Further, the preparation steps and ingredients are easy.
The time this dish takes to get ready is around twenty-three minutes. Also, you can marinate the steak to make it tastier. Enjoy your homemade skirt steak!
