A good grilled steak needs nothing else to make it special. Usually, all I do is season it with salt and pepper, toss it on the grill and cook it until it's seared and crusty on the outside and medium-rare and juicy on the inside.
Still, sometimes it's fun to get out of my S&P comfort zone. So this week, I decided to give my all-American steak an Asian twist with this Korean-Style Grilled Skirt Steak With Gochujang Butter.
Marinating a steak sounds like the kind of thing you need to start early in the day, making it a poor choice for a weeknight meal. That doesn't have to be true, though. Big flavors can happen quickly if your marinade is robust enough and that's exactly the case with this recipe.
The marinade itself is simple, made mostly from ingredients you're likely to have tucked away in your pantry. Soy sauce, brown sugar and toasted sesame oil are combined with grated fresh ginger and a generous amount of garlic. The steak sits in the marinade for 30 minutes, giving you just enough time to light the grill and pull together the rest of your meal, starting with the Gochujang Butter.
Flavored or compound butters are always a nice idea for grilled meats. In this case, the butter is flavored with the ever popular Korean chile paste, gochujang. It's a spicy, slightly sweet condiment that can be found in the international section of most grocery stores.
The soft butter is slathered onto the steak, gently melting and mingling with the steak's juices, creating a lovely sauce. So lovely, in fact, you won't want to miss a drop. That's why I like to serve it over steamed rice to absorb all the delightful flavors.
While the coals are hot I also grill whatever vegetable I have on hand. If I have any extra Gochujang Butter, I toss the grilled vegetables in it, too. No need to waste something this delicious.
The result is a quick and easy weeknight meal worthy enough to make on the weekend, too.
Meredith Deeds is a cookbook author and food writer from Edina. Reach her at meredithdeeds@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @meredithdeeds.
