Receta Steakhouse Salad
Claire SaffitzThe
bones of this great recipe are from a Bon Appetit writer named Claire
Saffitz. Ms Saffitz has an intriguing
background. She is a graduate of both
Harvard and McGill Universities. At both
places she studied History but by the time she got to McGill, she focused on
European food history and gastronomy.
She also took time between McGill and Harvard (the McGill of The South
as any good Montrealer knows) to study at Ecole Gregoire Ferandi in Paris where
she obtained a Certificate in Classic French Cuisine. And she certainly knows her way around the
kitchen as this recipe proves. Here you
have a man’s meal that anyone can feel pious about eating because it’s as much
about Spring vegetables as it is about the steak. It’s beautiful to look at and I can’t help
but think that it would make a spectacular outdoor lunch the first chance you
get. But before you proceed, I have a
confession to make: this isn’t the original recipe.
GochugaruMs.
Saffitz’ original recipe called for several Korean ingredients. Oddly enough, I
have the required ingredients…in my other kitchen. Gochujang Hot Pepper Paste
is hardly something I could run right out and get. And there’s Gochugaru, which is Korean Red
Pepper powder. Frankly, I wasn’t prepared to make a trip down to
Koreatown where I could find these two with ease.
Gochugaru is one of the backbones of Korean cooking and responsible for
its spiciness. To make Gochugaru, Korean
red chili peppers are dried in the sun, de-seeded and crushed into flakes. Gochujang, the red pepperGochugang
paste in the
original recipe, consists of Gochugaru added to fermented soy bean paste and
rice powder. I wanted to adapt this recipe
so that readers with less selection in the Asian food aisle could readily make
a version of the dish. Additionally, I
was not quite as fussy about the vegetables or the peanuts. Ms. Saffitz called for a mixture of raw and
cooked sugar snap peas. And she called for
raw peanuts cooked in oil. I blanched all my peas and went with some salted
peanuts I had on hand.
My
substitutes for the Korean ingredients are far easier to find. In lieu of Gochujang, I found that Vietnamese
Garlic Chili Sauce was a
great stand-in and readily available at the
supermarket. As to Gochugaru, flying in
the face of authenticity, I substituted good old Red Chile Flakes. What I
ended up with was a superb marinade
that gave the salad an Asian inflection, if not a Korean one. I made this twice: Once with Hanger steak and
once with the recommended Flank steak.
The Flank steak won out. However
I couldn’t help but think that the marinating time made a big difference. I had leftover marinade from version one
which allowed me to marinated version two a day in advance. Per the instructions in Ms. Saffitz’s recipe,
the taste of the steak gets only gets better if you do. Here is the recipe with
both ingredients – the originals and the substitutes.
Recipe for
Steakhouse Salad with Red Chili Dressing and Peanuts Adapted from Claire
Saffitz in Bon Appetit Magazine
Serves 6.
Marinates at least 1 hr. Active time 30 minutes.
- 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
- ⅓ cup
- unseasoned rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons Vietnamese Garlic Chili
- Sauce
- OR 2 tablespoons gochujang
- (Korean hot pepper paste)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive
- oil; plus more for grilling
- Kosher salt and freshly ground
- black pepper
- 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
- OR 1 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean
- red pepper powder)
- 1 head of butter lettuce,
- leaves separated
- 2 Persian cucumbers, sliced ⅛-inch thick
- 2 ounces radishes, thinly
- sliced
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1. Whisk garlic, vinegar,
- mirin, chili sauce or gochujang, and soy sauce in a
- medium bowl. Whisk in ½ cup oil;
season with salt and pepper.
Lightly score steak;
season with salt and pepper. Place in a resealable
plastic bag with half of
dressing. Seal bag and turn to coat. Chill at
least 1 hour. Set aside
remaining dressing for serving.
2. Cook trimmed sugar snap peas in a large
saucepan of boiling salted water
until crisp tender, about 2 minutes.
Drain; transfer to a bowl of ice water and
chill until cold, about 4
minutes. Drain, pat dry. and cut in half on a
diagonal.
3. Prepare grill for
medium-high heat;
lightly oil grates. Remove steak
from marinade and grill,
turning twice,
until medium-rare and lightly charred, 8−10 minutes.
Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before thinly
slicing against the grain.
4. Place peanuts in a resealable
plastic bag and seal, pressing out air. Pound with a rolling pin
to coarsely crush.
5. Arrange
lettuce on a platter; season with salt and pepper and drizzle with half of
reserved dressing. Top with steak, cooked peas, cucumbers, and radishes. Drizzle
with remaining dressing and top with peanuts, scallions, and raw peas.