Weekend Recipe: Grilled Marinated Skirt Steak
This Cook's Country recipe shows you how the loose grain of skirt steak makes it an ideal candidate for a flavorful marinade.
To achieve a charred crust, we season our steak with salt, pepper, and sugar before searing and don’t marinate until after it comes off the grill. Poking the grilled steaks with a fork lets the bold, savory flavors penetrate into the meat, and since the marinade never touches raw meat, we also serve it as a sauce on the side.
Grilled Marinated Skirt Steak
Serves 4 to 6
Keep the marinade at room temperature or it will cool down the steaks.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 scallions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 (12-ounce) skirt steaks, cut crosswise into 4-inch pieces and trimmed
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Combine soy sauce, Worcestershire, scallions, 2 tablespoons sugar, garlic, mustard, vinegar, and 1½ teaspoons pepper in bowl. Slowly whisk in oil until incorporated and sugar has dissolved. Pat steaks dry with paper towels and sprinkle all over with remaining 2 teaspoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
2A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter mounded with charcoal briquettes (7 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over half of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.
2B. FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.
3. Clean and oil cooking grate. Grill steaks (uncovered and directly over coals if using charcoal; covered if using gas) until well browned and meat registers 125 degrees for medium-rare, 2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer steaks to 13 by 9-inch pan and poke all over with fork. Pour marinade over steaks, tent with aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. Transfer meat to carving board and slice thinly against grain. Pour marinade into serving vessel. Serve, passing marinade at table.