'Crying tiger' rib-eye steaks
Rib-eye steaks are by far the most popular cut we’ve seen take over the BBQ world in the last decade. And for good reason. They usually have two muscle groups, separated by fat that renders like butter, giving this steak beefy flavour that is off the scale. In fact, global steak cook-offs will ask you to cook a rib-eye as a mark of your skills on the grill. The real prize on a rib-eye is the spinalis muscle, which eats like fillet. So when buying a rib eye steak, look out for the separate curved muscle that sits at the bottom of the steak, and try to buy rib-eyes with the largest spinalis.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
- 4 rib-eye steaks, 200g each
Marinade
- 3 tbsp of oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp of fish sauce
- 3 tbsp of neutral oil
Nam jim jaew
- 2 tsp sticky rice, uncooked
- 3 tbsp of fish sauce
- 1 tbsp of tamarind paste
- 1 tbsp of lime juice
- 1 tbsp of brown sugar
- 2 Thai chillies, finely chopped
- 1 tsp chilli flakes, optional
- 1 shallot, finely sliced
- 2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
To serve
- 1 batavia lettuce
- 100g of green beans, raw
- jasmine rice, cooked, to serve
Method
Start by marinating the steaks. Mix the oyster sauce and fish sauce together. Rub all over the steaks, coating them evenly
- 4 rib-eye steaks, 200g each
- 3 tbsp of oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp of fish sauce
Set aside to marinate for 1–2 hours
For the nam jim jaew, first toast the uncooked sticky rice. The rice should look golden and toasted. Keep swirling the pan to make sure the colour is even
- 2 tsp sticky rice, uncooked
Next transfer the rice to a pestle and mortar and pound into a powder. Any excess will keep for a month or so in a sealed container. The toasted rice adds an incredible texture and nutty flavour to this sauce
Next, add the wet ingredients to a mixing bowl: fish sauce, tamarind paste and lime juice. Mix well
- 3 tbsp of fish sauce
- 1 tbsp of tamarind paste
- 1 tbsp of lime juice
Finally add in all the other ingredients and the toasted rice powder. Mix and taste. You can adjust any of the ingredients to suit your palate – if you want more spice, add the chilli flakes, more acid, add more lime juice, sweeter, add more brown sugar. This sauce should pack a punch across your taste buds
- 1 tbsp of brown sugar
- 2 Thai chillies, finely chopped
- 1 tsp chilli flakes, optional
- 1 shallot, finely sliced
- 2 tsp fresh coriander, finely chopped
Grill the steaks directly over a medium-high heat. Brush the neutral oil over the steaks and set over the flames
- 3 tbsp of neutral oil
Grill for 3 minutes each side, removing the steaks when they hit 51-53°C. Allow them to rest for 6-7 minutes before carving. We prefer a medium rare to medium for rib eyes. This ensures that the intermuscular fat is properly rendered. The sugars in the oyster sauce will help the steaks brown, ensuring that they'll look charred and delicious
Serve with the fresh, crunchy raw vegetables, steamed jasmine rice and the delicious nam jim jaew for dipping
- 1 batavia lettuce
- 100g of green beans, raw
- jasmine rice, to serve
Sam and Shauna are chefs, barbecue experts and cookbook authors who run barbecue classes online, and co-wrote 'Hang Fire Cookbook: Recipes and Adventures in American BBQ’. They are the stars of the BBC TV show ‘Sam and Shauna’s Big Cook-Out’, which highlights different Welsh communities and the couple's love of barbecue.
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