“Kalbi Marinated” Flank Steak
This low-maintenance, high-reward Ssam Board recipe will bring the flavors of Korea to your kitchen table. Assam, meaning “wrapped”, is a platter of marinated meats served with leafy vegetables like lettuce or cabbage, that are used for wrapping the proteins. At Anju, Chef Angel Barreto serves his Ssam Boards with galbi (grilled ribs) marinated for two days, roasted garlic ssamjang (a thick, spicy paste), crispy shallots, radishes, a mixture of leafy seasonal greens, and rice. At home, Chef Barreto riffs off his restaurant’s ssam board by doing a quick marinade using Sprite to speed up the tenderization process and add a hint of sweetness.
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Ingredients
- 3 pounds flank steak
- 1 small onion peeled and quartered
- 9 cloves peeled garlic
- 1 2- inch piece fresh ginger peeled and cut into coins
- 1 Asian pear cored and quartered
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup light soy sauce
- 1 12- ounce can of Sprite
- ½ cup mirin rice wine
- ¼ cup sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small jalapeno pepper roughly chopped
- 4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1 bunch scallions chopped into thin rounds (white and green parts)
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil for cooking
Instructions
- Clean any silver skin left on the flank steak by running your knife carefully under the thin milky white membranes on the meat. Take caution to not cut too deeply. Discard the membrane.
- Use a tenderizing mallet, work the meat in a zigzag pattern hitting all the spots till there are tiny punctures evenly throughout the skirt steak. Flip and repeat.
- If you don’t have a tenderizer, use a fork to puncture holes in a zigzag pattern and repeat the process as you would with a mallet. Set the skirt steak aside in a bowl or Ziploc bags.
- Make the marinade: Combine the onion, garlic cloves, ginger coins, brown sugar, soy sauce, Sprite, mirin, black pepper, sesame oil, black pepper, and jalapeno pepper together in a blender, secure the lid, and blend until smooth and combined. Transfer to a large bowl and add the sesame seeds and scallions.
- Add the steak to the bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
- When you’re ready to cook, heat the oven to 350°F. Remove meat from bowl and discard marinade.
- Place a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the oil. When the oil is shimmering and hot, add the steak and cook for 3 minutes. Flip and cook for 2 minutes.
- Place skillet in the oven and cook for another 2 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for 3 minutes before slicing.
Notes
Chef's Tip: If you are using the marinade with chicken, then marinate for 2 to 3 hours, seafood for 1 hour.
Grain-Finished Flank Steak:
Cooking a grain-finished steak? Decrease the cooking time by about 2-3 minutes per side but still follow the recipe instructions above to achieve a desired internal temperature.
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