How to: Steak

Oh God.  It's been more than a week.  I really haven't been cooking.  I have an exam tomorrow.  And yes, I decided to post something today.  

So, steak.

It's one of those things that costs a fortune in fancy restaurants but you can easily make at home at a fraction of the price.  It's easy, but a lot of people get it wrong.  There is so much debate though.  Oil in pan or on meat, turning it once or a couple of times etc etc.  But after a multitude of research, here's how I believe you panfry the perfect steak.  Well, ok, here's my perfect steak.



1. Choosing the meat
Sirloin, rib eye, rump -- these are all good choices.  Get yourself a good piece of meat.  It should be deep red in color, not bright cherry red, actually.  Your steak should be about an inch thick, especially if you want it medium-rare or medium.  Oh and it should have a nice layer of fat around it, it honestly makes it that much tastier, you can not eat the fat afterwards but you need it when you cook it.

2.  Get your pan nice and hot
Dry pan.  High heat.  Leave that for a couple of minutes, make sure your pan is smoking hot.  As Gordon Ramsay says, "if there's no heat in the pan, there's no color.  If there's no color, there's no flavor."  Don't put oil or butter into the pan, it will burn and the flavor won't be nice.  Oil on meat, then meat on pan.  

3. Season your steak
Get your meat ready, it should be at room temperature, so take it out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before you want to cook it.  This is so that the muscles relax and that when you cook it it won't be cold in the middle.  First pat it dry with a kitchen towel.  Then season both sides with salt and pepper and a trickle of oil.  Rub all that in.

4. Turn it only once
Place your steak into the pan and it should sizzle.  Beautiful, beautiful sound.  The key is to only turn it once.  Just leave it,  once on each side, and once on the back where the fat is.

5. Timing
You can tell the state of your steak by comparing the the meat's firmness to the palm of your hand apparently.  Different regions, different softness, corresponding to how well done the meat is.  I'm not that professional so I honestly can't tell.  But generally, with 1 inch sirloin steaks, I like medium rare and that's about 2 minutes on each side.  For medium, about 2 1/2 minutes, and for well done, I'd say about 3 minutes.  After you've done both sides, turn it to it's back and fry that fat for just a couple of seconds.

6. Resting
I know it's tempting, but don't eat it right away, when it's done, leave it to rest.  Leave it to rest for about 5 minutes, just so the fibres relax and the natural juices come out.  The resting time depends on the size of your steak.