Salted / Spiced Flank Steak

Of all cuts of Cow, the Flank is so incredibly underrated. It differs from most other cuts in that it really does need proper preparation, and can be extremely temperamental when cooked. Because it is such a thin cut of meat, it is easy to over cook, pair that with its very notable grain, and you can quickly destroy any hope you have of a good meal.

A surprising trick we learned a few years ago was that Salt alone can be a fantastic marinade. This works most notably for Scallops, but also for Flank Steak. The salt seems to have the ability to draw out the water in the meat, and break down the gristly bits. The end result is a fantastically tender flank that will just fall apart.

Tasty Results!

Ingredients / Tools:

1 Flank Steak
Salt (We like grated Sea-Salt, but I’m sure any large-grain salt would do — Kosher etc).
Olive Oil
Butter
Pepper
Steak Rub
Red Wine
Stainless Steel Skillet/Pan
Sharp Knife

Method:

First off, we want to remove any obvious or large pieces of fat/gristle from the meat. Where we don’t have the latitude to cook this thin cut for an extended period of time, we cannot rely on heat to break down the gristle.
Cross-hatch/score both sides of the flank steak. This will allow the salt to penetrate further into the meat, and break down the tough bits.
Liberally salt both sides of the steak, and rub in (using your palm) to ensure penetration.

You should be able to see the grains of salt. Also note the cross-hatch of the meat.
Refrigerate for a couple hours. For this meal I put in the fridge for ~1.5-2 hours.
Remove from fridge, and rinse the steak with lukewarm water. This will both remove the excess salt, and bring the meat closer to room-temperature. General Tip: When cooking meat, it is often preferable to bring it as close to room-temperature as possible (taking into consideration that you shouldn’t leave it on the counter for 3 hours and get some awful food poisoning!)
Pat-dry the meat with paper towel to remove all excess water.
At this point you can season your steak – we like a simple toasted/crushed black pepper with maybe some garlic olive oil. A steak rub will be good here as well.
Bring your pan up to medium-high heat, add some ground pepper to season the pan. After a minute or two of the pepper toasting, add a splash of Olive oil and a little butter. Let it get almost hot enough to smoke, then add the steak.
Turn on the top broiler to heat up the oven a bit.
Let the steak cook on each side for ~4 minutes/side. Splash a little Red Wine every once in while to keep liquid in the pan — don’t let it simmer dry. Adding butter and spooning the liquid over the steak will keep it moist. We aren’t trying to fry the steak! This should give you a nice rare Flank steak. Given this cut of meat is generally ‘tough’, preparing it rare will give you flavour and an edible, tender consistency.
Keep the steak moving by shuffling the pan.
Remove the pan from the stovetop, and place under the broiler (still in the pan) for a couple more minutes to further cook, and then remove from the Oven, and let rest on the cutting board for 5 minutes.
Cut along the scores you made earlier into thin strips. Once on the plate, drizzle with a little bit of the pan drippings.
Wonderfully rare & tender!