Joi Ito's Cooking

Joi Ito's cookin' on the living web.

I had some skirt steak left over in the freezer and wasn’t so exited about cooking it - my image was dried, tough fajitas. Then, I noticed that Nosrat said it was her favorite “weekday steak” and that Kenji thought it was even more tasty than a rib eye. The problem was is that it’s thin and easily turns tough.

In The Food Lab, Kenji says that if you cook it correctly, it can be really good. He says you have to sear it very quickly over a very high heat. Kenji says that the [Spicy Thai-Style Flank Steak Salad] was one of his favorite so I was excited to try it.

I used hardwood charcoal which burns faster and hotter. After heating the coals in the chimney, I put them in the grill to one side and pours a healthy extra layer of fresh coals on top to make it super hot.

I grilled them starting with the thickest piece first on the hot side on both sides and them moved them to the cooler side of the grill as I added new pieces. I pulled them at 120ºF or so in the coolest part and let them finish on the cool side. They quickly got hotter - 135ºF or so, but came out OK. The recipe was excellent and maybe the best thing I’ve ever made on my grill.

I also grilled burgers and veggies - summer squash and zucchini. I used the recipe we stumbled on when we put dressing on them before - salt, olive oil and some vinegar tossing before grilling.

Everything was better with the hotter grill other than burning the hairs on my hand and melting part of my thermometer. I’ll have to use the protective gloves and be more careful about what I put near the grill.

Recipes prepared

 
The Food Lab - Spicy Thai-Style Flank Steak Salad