Worcestershire and garlic steak marinade
A quick, savoury steak marinade of Worcestershire sauce, plenty of garlic, olive oil and cracked pepper for rump, sirloin, ribeye or flank on very hot coals.
- CoalsGas
- No fire needed
- Prep
- 5 min
- On the fire
- 0 min
- Plan ahead
- 30 minutes to 4 hours marinating
- Serves
- makes about 175 ml (3/4 cup), enough for 1 kg (2.2 lb) steak, about 4 steaks
- Done at
- 145°F (63°C)
Ingredients
Method
- Mix the garlic paste with the salt in a bowl and leave it for 2 minutes. Whisk in the Worcestershire sauce, oil, onion powder, pepper and herbs.
- Lay the steaks in a glass dish or a zip-seal bag in a single layer. Pour over the marinade and rub the garlic into both sides of each steak.
- Cover the dish or seal the bag with the air pressed out. Refrigerate and turn the steaks once halfway.
- Give thin flank or skirt steak 30 minutes to 2 hours, and rump, sirloin or ribeye 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick 1 to 4 hours. Overnight is possible, but the salt and Worcestershire start to cure the outside and it goes grey and firm.
- Take the steaks out 30 minutes before cooking. Scrape off the garlic with the back of a knife and pat the meat very dry with paper towel, or it steams and the garlic burns.
- Braai over very hot coals, where you can hold your hand at grid height for only 2 seconds. Cook flank steak 3 to 4 minutes a side, and 2.5 cm (1 inch) rump, sirloin or ribeye 4 to 6 minutes a side, turning once or twice. Move a steak to the edge if fat flares.
- If you like, put a knob of butter on each steak for the last minute. To brush on the used marinade, boil it in a small pot for 2 to 3 minutes first and use it only in the last 2 minutes.
- Rest the steaks on a warm board for 5 minutes before you cut them. Slice flank steak thinly across the grain.
Done when: the steaks have a dark crust and a thermometer in the middle reads 63°C (145°F), the safe temperature for whole cuts of beef, followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes. Many braaiers prefer medium-rare and take steak off at 55 to 57°C (131 to 135°F), but cook to 63°C (145°F) for children, older people and anyone pregnant.
Tips
- It suits other meat too. Lamb chops: 1 to 4 hours, 4 to 5 minutes a side on hot coals, to 63°C (145°F). Beef sosaties or kebabs: 1 to 2 hours, 8 to 10 minutes, turning often. Pork neck steaks: 2 to 4 hours, 5 to 6 minutes a side on medium coals, to 63°C (145°F).
- Worcestershire sauce is already salty, so taste before you add more salt at the table.
- Marinade flavour only goes a few millimetres into the meat, so a thick steak gains little from a long soak. The crust is where you taste it.
Worcestershire sauce has been a South African pantry staple for well over a century, and a splash of it goes into most braai sauces and steak rubs. On its own with garlic and oil it makes the simplest steak marinade there is: savoury, salty and done in five minutes. It needs no sugar or beer, so the crust stays clean and dark. Try it on the steaks for T-bone with garlic and herb butter or with rump steak and monkey gland sauce.
Source
Adapted from How To Make The Best Garlic Steak Marinade at Domestically Speaking and Worcestershire Sauce Marinade Recipe for Grilled Steaks at Premeditated Leftovers.