Steak with Lemongrass Marinade

The flavours in this recipe have a real Asian influence, but with a very light touch. I like to serve the steak medium-rare on lettuce leaves, and layered up with crunchy vegetables, fresh herbs and toasted peanuts.

When it comes to marinades, you want balance, no one flavour should overpower the steak. This marinade balances the heat from ginger and chilli, with pungent garlic and fresh, aromatic lemongrass. Fish sauce and sweet soy add the salty/sweet balance.

Recipe ingredients

• Steak: I used sirloin steak, in this recipe but you can use any beef steak with this marinade.
• Lettuce: I like to serve the steak in lettuce leaves, and I find gem lettuce is the best. Gem is a good robust lettuce leaf with good crunch which can be hand held without falling apart.
• Vegetables: I also like to top the steak with spring onions (green onions), strips of carrot and thinly sliced red finger chilli.
• Fresh herbs: I like top the vegetables with some fresh coriander leaf (cilantro), you could also use parsley or Thai basil.
• Peanuts: toasted and crushed peanuts add great crunch and texture to the dish.
• Lime: I serve this dish with wedges of fresh lime so everyone can help themselves and squeeze over some lime juice to suit their taste.

Lemongrass marinade ingredients

• Herbs: the base of the marinade is made with lemongrass, fresh garlic, red finger chilli and root ginger.
• Fish sauce: I add fish sauce to flavour adding salt and seasoning the marinade.
• Sweet soy sauce: I like to add sweet soy sauce to the marinade, look for Kecap Manis which is a lovely syrupy, sweet soy sauce.
• Oil: I add a tablespoons of sunflower oil to the marinade, you could also use vegetable or groundnut oil.

How to cook steak with lemongrass marinade

• Place the lemongrass, garlic, chilli and ginger into a small blender or food processor and blend to a pulp. Add the remaining marinade ingredients and mix well.
• Place the steaks into a dish along with the marinade and rub all over. Cover the dish in clingfilm and allow to marinade for a minimum of 1 hour, but ideally overnight.
• At this stage you can also prepare the peanuts, by toasting them in a dry pan and then roughly crushing them with a pestle and mortar. Cover and set aside until you are ready to assemble.

• When ready to eat, place a heavy based non-stick frying over a high heat, do not add any oil to the pan. Once the pan is smoking hot place the steaks in the pan and cook on both sides to your liking (I cooked to medium-rare - but you can see temperature cooking guideline below).
• Once cooked take the steaks out of the pan and set aside on a board to rest for 5 minutes.

TOP TIP: Note that cooking times will vary depending on the size and thickness of the steak. See table later in post for internal cooking temperatures for steak.

• Meanwhile prepare the lettuce and remaining garnishes.
• Once the steak has rested, cut it into thin slices and place a couple of slices onto each lettuce leaf.
• Top the steak with the remaining garnishes and squeeze over some fresh lime juice. Serve immediately.

Internal temperatures for cooking steak

Steak vary both in size and thickness, so to cook the perfect steak, I recommending using a meat probe thermometer to check the internal temperature of the cooked steak.

	Temperature °C	Temperature °F
Rare	45-47	113-117
Medium - Rare	50-52	112-126
Medium	55-60	131-140
Well Done	64-70	147-158

Recipe variations

• Steak - for a bit of extra flavour I like to use sirloin or ribeye as they have a nice amount of fat which adds extra flavour. You could also use rump, fillet or bavette steak.
• Chicken - this marinade and method of cooking would also work with other protein like boneless, skinless chicken legs or thighs. For chicken, cook to internal temperature of 74C/165F.
• Seafood - try this marinade with seafood, great with white fish but also good with king prawns. Just cut back marinating times to 30 minutes.
• Chilli - adjust chilli heat to suit your tastes. I love chilli but tend to make the marinade milder, then serve sliced fresh red chilli so that everyone can layer up their lettuce leaf how they want it. If you don't like chilli cut it back or leave it out altogether.
• Vegetables - feel free to top the steak with other vegetables, I also use cucumber, finely shredded cabbage, or thinly sliced radish.

Serving suggestions

I've served the steak in lettuce leaves with a fresh garnish, this is a quick but impressive looking dish. You can serve 2 people as a main course with other side dishes, a mixed vegetable stir-fry would be ideal.

If entertaining family and friends, this recipe also serves 4-6 as a starter, or 8 as a canape.

Useful hints and tips

1. Cooking times will vary depending on the size and thickness of the steak being cooked.
2. The best way to cook steak exactly how you want it is to use the internal temperature of the steak (see temperature guide earlier in post).
3. I recommend using a meat probe thermometer to check the internal cooking temperature of any meat.
4. Always allow steak to rest for 5 minutes this allow the meat to relax and redistribute the juices resulting in a far tastier, juicier steak.
5. Gluten free: to make this gluten free, check the labels and ensure that the sweet soy sauce and fish sauce you are using are gluten free options.
6. Allergy advice: dairy free, egg free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.

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Additional recipe suggestions

If you like steak then try these easy recipes:

• Bavette Steak with Salsa Verde
• Skirt Steak with a Warm Spice Marinade
• Steak with Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

Looking for inspiration for feeding the family mid week, then take a look at my Ultimate Guide to Family Dinners. Full of useful hints, tips and a variety of great tasting recipes.