Signature Dish: Chef Don's Flank Steak | Food

Chef Don's Flank Steak

"I got this recipe initially in 1990 or 1991. I was working at the Airport Hilton in Melbourne, Florida as a line cook. I wanted a unique flavor for flank steak, which was very inexpensive at the time. One afternoon I was at the Melbourne Beach boardwalk. I struck up a conversation with this really old Hawaiian surfer dude and began to tell him about myself and what I was in search of, a marinade for flank steak. After talking for a time he gave me a recipe, verbally and I added garlic cloves to it. It is simple and easy to prepare." 

The Recipe:

You'll need 3 to 5 pounds of flank steak. Chef Don recommends buying flank steaks that run about 1 to 1 ½ pounds each and expecting guests to eat an 8 ounce pre cooked weight/portion at a minimum.  Any left over marinade is used to pour over the steaks as they grill.

In a saucepan add:

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup soy sauce

• 1 cup granulated white sugar

• 1 to 2 inch long section of ginger root, sliced

• 3 to 5 garlic cloves crushed

Mix well. Bring all ingredients to a simmer, do not boil and remove from heat to cool.

Place flank steaks in a gallon zip lock bag or two if necessary, add marinade.

Allow to sit in refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours, turning bag occasionally. Overnight is best.

Place marinated steaks on a hot grill and cook on each side 3 to 5 minutes or until desired temperature is reached. 3 to 5 minutes will produce a medium to medium rare steak depending on the thickness of the steak and heat of your grill.

Slice steaks on the bias (across the grain of the meat) into thin strips and serve.

Sauce or gravy is not necessary.  This is delicious as is.

see our related photo gallery for several process photos to help as your prepare this recipe

Visit Chef Don at Menus N More for more delicious recipes. Menus N More is a subscription meal planning site that provides complete menus, how-to-photos, recipes and categorized shopping lists for evening meals. Chef Don says by using his site, subscribers can save time and money by simply having a meal plan.