The Perfect Sirloin Steak
Ingredients
A Sirloin Steak
The Perfect Sirloin Steak (medium rare):
Cooking a simple steak is more nuanced than most cooks imagine and there is one particularly useful tip to make the perfect steak. Salting the steak before cooking, for example, dissolves the protein strands in the meat enabling them to bind and hold onto more of the fat molecules. This prevents them from leaking out in the cooking process. This is what caramelises and gives the sweet flavour to the steak.
Method
- Take the meat out of the fridge and salt generously with flaked sea salt, and a small amount of olive oil and leave for 15 minutes to come up to room temperature.
- Heat a stainless-steel or cast-iron pan on a high heat.
- Place the steak down onto the surface of the pan. The meat will most likely stick to the pan but after a minute or so it will naturally release. Sear on each side for approximately 3 minutes, turning continuously so that the meat browns and doesn’t burn.
- Place the steak fat-side down until brown and caramelised.
- On a wooden board, leave to rest uncovered for 10 minutes before cutting across the grain into thick slices.
