Thursday, February 16, 2017

Grilled Flank Steak with Spicy Green Beans

[FTC Standard Disclaimer]  We received no compensation for this post.  We have no affiliation with any specific brands mentioned, except Certified Angus Beef and the GrillGrates were a review sample.

Here is that Flank Steak with Spicy Green Beans recipe that I mentioned in my review of the Woo rig for a BGE Mini-Max.


Flank steak is a great cut of beef because while it is lean, it is still very flavorful.  I often use it instead of skirt steak for fajitas because I prefer the flavor and thicker portion of beef.  It has long muscle fibers running the length of the steak so it is very important to slice the steak against the grain to get the most tender bite.


  • Despite the name, the green beans are only mildly spicy as is.  That's what the chili garlic sauce is on the platter - to let each person adjust the heat to their liking. 
  •  To blanch the green beans, drop them in boiling water for 3-4 minutes.  Then remove them and shock them in a bowl of ice and water for a few minutes.  That will stop their cooking. Then just pat them dry with paper towels and if not using until later, put them on refrigeration.
  • I make a blend for stir fry oil.  I like the flavor of sesame oil but it's way too strong for my tastes.  So I blend about 1 teaspoon of sesame oil to a half cup of a high temp cooking oil.  I used to use peanut oil for stir frying but recently switched to avocado oil.  Avocado oil has a very high smoke point (500°f compared to 450°f for peanut oil) plus it is high in Omega-9 fatty acids.
  • We like to serve this with sweet jasmine rice but coconut rice or a cilantro chile rice would be good too.



How to stir fry on a kamado grill like Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe, or Vision grills

Grilled Flank Steak with Spicy Green Beans

Serves: 4

Ingredients


  • Flank steak

For the marinade


  • 1/2 cup Yoshida's Original Gourmet Sauce
  • 1/4 cup Ink Ginger Sesame Soy Sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
  • 1 tablespoon roasted garlic
  • 1/4 cup stir fry oil

For the Spicy Green Beans


  • 12 ounces green beans, blanched
  • 3-4 medium sized portobello mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 medium sweet onion, sliced into wedges
  • 1/4 cup Yoshida's Original Gourmet Sauce
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
  • 1 teaspoon roasted garlic
  • sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions


  1. Marinade the steak.  Mix the marinade ingredients together.  Place the flank steak in a 1 gallon zip top bag, add the marinade, press out excess air, and zip the bag.  Slosh the marinade around to cover the steak and place in the fridge for 4-6 hours.  Flip once or twice during that time.  Remove from the fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking.
  2. Make the Stir Fry Sauce.  Mix together the 1/4 cup of Yoshida's, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, teaspoon chili garlic sauce, and teaspoon of roasted garlic.  
  3. Preheat charcoal grill to 450°f.  
  4. Grill the steak.  Shake off the excess marinade and pat the steak dry with paper towels (helps form nice sear marks).  Apply a very light coat of the stir fry oil (maybe 1 teaspoon a side) on the steak.  Grill the steak about 4 minutes per side to an internal temperature of 128°f for medium rare or about 5 minutes per side to 135°f for medium.  Remove to a resting rack and immediately put the wok on the grill to preheat few minutes.
  5. Stir fry the veggies.  Once the wok is hot, add about 1-2 tablespoons of the stir fry oil and add the mushrooms and onions.  Stir fry until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add in the green beans and just enough sauce to cover everything but not pool, 1-2 ounces.  Cook another 2-3 minutes until done and remove from heat.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  6. Slice the steak across the grain and serve with veggies, the leftover stir fry sauce, and extra chili garlic sauce on the side.

Notes/substitutions


  • Yoshida's Original Gourmet Sauce - It is a sweet Asian style sauce that we get at Sam's, Publix, and a few other retail stores.  If you can't find it, you can substitute a sweet teriyaki sauce.
  • Ink Ginger Sesame Soy sauce - As of this post, Ink isn't widely available yet. We got ours to test out from a very cool friend that happens to work for their insurer.  You can use another flavored soy sauce or just regular soy sauce and add some ginger and sesame oil.
  • Chili garlic sauce - We use the standard Huy Fong brand and buy it at one of the grocery stores that we frequent.  I love this stuff more than Sriracha because it has a more balanced heat to flavor ratio.  You could substitute sambal oelek in the same amounts or a little less sriracha.
  • Portobello mushrooms - These are the medium sized ones 1-2", not the full sized 4-5" ones.  You could also use about 5 or 6 of the smaller "baby bella" variety or go with something different altogether, such as shittake and/or oyster 'shrooms.

Asian style marinade recipe for flank steak on the grill.
We didn't marinade under suction, the steak was part of a two pack so we have vacuum sealed it prior to this. Didn't want anyone thinking I had some special technique.  I do have a vacuum marinator but I'm not convinced it does anything special.

Carbon steel wok for kamado grills from the Ceramic Grill Store on a Big Green Egg Mini-Max
I had to season the wok because this was the first time I used it, so I did that before grilling the steak.  It's a carbon steel wok from Ceramic Grill Store.  My sister got that and the Woo rig it is on, for me for Christmas.


Grilling the flank steak on GrillGrates on the Mini-Max, a small sized kamado grill.  The marinade has sugar and will burn easily, which is another reason I pat the steak dry after marinating.  You're not wiping off the flavor, it should already be in the surface of the meat. 


Always rest your hot meats on a resting rack to avoid trapping heat between two flat surfaces. This minimizes moisture loss during resting and yields a juicier steak, according to Rouxbe Online Cooking school.  I tried it side by side after taking a class there and I've done it this way ever since that comparison.

Small wok and woo rig for the Big Green Egg Mini-Max and other small kamado grills.
After seasoning the wok and cooking the steak, I had burned my coals down and needed to add 2 handfuls of lump coal.  You want plenty of heat with stir-frying and an under-fueled fire just wasn't going to cut it.  This wasn't ideal but it only took a few minutes to get the heat fully going again because I still had a good base of hot coals.  I was just topping it off.

Stir frying over a fire - or as I like to call it "stir firing" is a great use for small kamado grills like the Big Green Egg Mini-Max. I bought this one from Mannix Pools down in Winter Haven.  They just expanded their grilling show room and added facilities for the frequent BBQ and grilling classes that they have.  If you're in the area, check them out for your grilling equipment, grilling supplies, and pool supplies.  BJ and his staff will take care of you.

How to stir fry on a kamado grill, such as; Komodo kamado, big green egg, and vision grills.
Once you add the beans, you are just cooking them until heated through, 2-3 minutes.  Also don't use too much sauce.  You only want 2 to 3 tablespoons of the sauce.  You want just enough to coat the veggies, you don't want them swimming in the sauce.

Parker's Charcoal is one of the best lump coal for kamado grills like big green egg, kamado joe, and primo.
Kamado grillers are notoriously picky about the lump charcoal that they use.  We prefer to use Parker's Charcoal which we buy at a local grocery store.  They are based in our State and use only Tennessee hardwoods.  In my experience for the past 2 years, it burns clean and consistent.  Usually it has pretty equal sized pieces without much dust, although we recently went through a couple of bags that had been treated roughly, probably at the store level.  The newer bags are back to the usual quality.


Stir fried spicy green beans with flank steak recipe.
Sliced up and ready to serve.  Take some of the leftover sauce, mix in more of the chili garlic paste to get the heat level you want and add it to your plate.  I put it on everything, the beans, rice, and steak.

For other recipe ideas for flank steak, check out these flank steak recipes at Certified Angus Beef. They are one of our sponsors but this is not a compensated post.  I just like the look of these recipes, especially that Southwestern Salad with Avocado Dressing.  I'll be making that one for sure.