Cooking a steak at home can be intimidating. A large, pricey protein format that you will be serving for a potentially "fancy" occasion to multiple people...oh boy, the pressure. I had some similar thoughts when making my first steaks, so don't worry.
After cooking many steaks at home, I realized it's actually pretty simple. In fact, cooking a steak can be a good teacher of many other important home cooking skills that you can practice and even apply to other protein formats beyond steak. Below is one of the techniques I use to cook a steak. I like it for the sheer simplicity of the method and the resulting flavors. Enjoy it, practice it, and more recipes to come the rest of this year!
Ingredients
- Steak (1"+ thickness minimum. I like a ribeye for the fat content but choose the cut you want to eat! Here is more information about steak cuts)
- Kosher Salt (This salt is a flat grain shape which sticks better)
- ~1 tbsp Non-salted butter
- Cooking Oil (Preferably a high smoke point oil like sunflower, vegetable, canola oil)
- Garlic
- [Optional] Sprigs of Thyme
Tools
- Pan (Cast iron or carbon steel is preferred to retain that heat)
- Tongs
- Spoon
- Knife
- Cooking Thermometer
Steps
1. Take your steak out of the fridge and let it come up to room temp. This is important because an ice-cold piece of meat will be harder to properly cook. So take that steak out about 1 hour before you are thinking of cooking.
2. When you are ready to cook, season your steak with salt. I like to liberally season, but that is my salt preference. Depending on your salt preference/tolerance, adjust to your liking. We all different! Learning what your salt preference and other people's is a skill you can develop with this recipe.
3. Get your pan ripping hot. Make sure to turn on your burner fan. Open a window if you know your fan ain't that strong. This is also why we are using a high smoke point oil. Since we are using the pan at such a high heat, the higher the smoke point of the oil, the less smokey your kitchen will get.
4. Once your pan is hot, add in your oil. Once the oil starts shimmering and is hot, place your steak in the pan making sure all of the steak's surface has maximum contact with the pan. We are trying to create a solid sear.
5. After a minute, flip your steak. Keep flipping your steak every minute until you create this color of sear on your steak:
6. Immediately once you get this nice sear on both sides (usually after ~4 min), drop your burner to medium low and drop in your butter and garlic. Add a sprig or two of thyme if you want an herby butter flavor for your steak.
7. Butter basting time. Move your steak to the top of the pan and tilt the pan toward you so the melted butter is closest to you. Grab your spoon and start basting your steak like so.
8. After a few bastes, use your cooking thermometer to check the internal temperature of your steak. Keep cooking until you reach your preferred doneness temp and then remove. I prefer a medium rare, so I'll be removing my steak onto a cutting board at 130F, but you do you. Experiment and cook multiple steaks at different doneness levels to learn what you prefer best. (Here is a doneness temp guide)
9. Let your steak REST at least for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Your steak has been doing a lot of work and a lot of juices have been energized. Letting your steak rest will allow for the juices to redistribute and yield a much better steak experience.
10. Slice and enjoy fam!
I made this steak here with my cousin for our New Year's Eve dinner. We paired it alongside sautéd mushrooms, salmon poke for a little surf and turf action, and a small Vietnamese style salad dressed with a homemade nước chấm. Here was our full spread that night:
