The hip steak is taken from the back leg of the cow so it is quite lean and usually quite tough. For this reason, hip steak is one of the cheaper cuts of meat, but it can be processed to give it a richer taste, provided it is properly prepared. By knowing a few ways to break down the fiber in meat and make it as tender as possible, you can make hip steaks taste great.
Ingredients
Boiling Hip Steak
- 1 kg hip steak
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 500 ml beef broth, red wine, or water
Seasoning Soak Softener
- 1 kg hip steak
- 60 ml oil, such as vegetable oil or olive oil
- 3 tbsp. (44 ml) vinegar, such as red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp. (4 g) dried thyme
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- tsp. (0.5 g) ground red pepper
- tsp. (2 g) salt
Step
Method 1 of 4: Boiling the Hip Steak
Step 1. Heat the steaks in a large thick-walled cooking pot
Place the pan on the stove over high heat and add a little cooking oil. Once the oil is cooked, add the hip steaks and roast all the sides until golden brown.
You don't have to cook the meat thoroughly at this stage, but just need to add crust and color on the outside.
Use high heat for grilling and low heat for boiling.
Step 2. Remove the steak and dissolve the crust in the pan
Once the steaks are browned on all sides, remove from the pan and set aside. Pour a little beef stock or red wine until it covers the bottom of the pot, then stir with a wooden spatula. The broth will dissolve the crust and lift the delicious brown flakes at the bottom of the pan for added flavor.
- You can use red wine, beef stock, or even water to dissolve the crust at the bottom of the pot. Choose what you like the taste of. The red wine will enrich the flavours, the beef stock will complement the taste of the meat, and the water will free you up to add other flavors to the steak. Try combining different liquids to add more complex flavors.
- If you want to add vegetables to your menu, do so before dissolving the crust. Cut the vegetables into edible sizes, then cook them until they are soft and flavorful. Bell peppers, mushrooms, onions and carrots make the perfect complement.
Step 3. Return the steak to the pot and add the liquid
Once the stock or wine starts to bubble a little and the crust is all off the bottom of the pot, put the pot back in. Add beef stock, red wine, or water until the steak is half covered.
Add spices if you want the aroma to seep into the steak at this point. Bay leaves (a type of bay leaf), orange zest, or garlic can be great additions
Step 4. Let the water come to a boil, then reduce the heat until the water is just spattering
Watch the steak as the liquid around it heats up and begins to boil. After boiling, immediately reduce the heat of the stove so that the liquid is only a small splash.
You can also boil steaks in the oven instead of on the stove. Preheat the oven to 180 °C, cover the pot and let the meat cook for about 2 hours
Step 5. Boil the hip steak for 2 hours
Once the liquid has drizzled a little, cover the steak and allow it to soften. Perfectly braised meat is easy to pull apart using two forks, usually called a fork-tender. Check the steak for about 1 hour to see if it is cooked through.
The time it takes to cook a hip steak will vary depending on the cut and how thick the meat is. After the first hour, check every 30 minutes until the steak is cooked through
Step 6. Remove the steak from the liquid and serve
Use tongs or a wooden spatula to lift the meat from the pan onto a serving plate. Serve the steak immediately with fresh vegetables and mashed potatoes.
To make it even tastier, reduce the liquid until it has a thicker consistency and turns into a delicious sauce to complement the steak. Cook over high heat until the liquid is reduced, or add cornstarch to thicken the sauce to your preferred consistency
Method 2 of 4: Tenderizing Meat with Power
Step 1. Cover the flat surface of the object with parchment paper
Tear off a piece of parchment paper that is slightly larger than the hip steak. Lay it out on a wooden cutting board or other flat surface. The parchment paper will prevent the steak from sticking to the object as you soften it.
If you don't have parchment paper, you can use plastic wrap or a clean plastic bag to cover the steaks. Just use anything that prevents the meat from touching other surfaces directly and can be opened easily
Step 2. Place the steak and cover it
Remove the steak from the wrapper and place it on the parchment paper. Cover the steak with another piece of parchment paper or with plastic wrap so that the top and bottom are securely protected.
Step 3. Beat the meat to tenderize it
Use a meat hammer to evenly beat the surface of the steak with the toothed side of the hammer. Apply firm pressure and pound the entire surface of the steak to even out and break up the fibers, but don't crush them.
- If you don't have a hammer or meat bat, use a flat pan, a rolling pin, or even a sturdy roll of foil.
- You don't need to beat the meat well or spend a long time tenderizing it. Start on one side of the meat and work your way up to the other end, pounding the entire steak with a meat mallet. Repeat one more time to soften it without breaking it.
Step 4. Open the paper and cook the steak
Remove the parchment paper that is on top of the meat carefully so that nothing remains. Remove the steaks from the paper lining them and transfer them to a hot kettle, skillet, or frying pan to cook.
Since you've tenderized the meat and slightly flattened it, the steaks shouldn't take long to cook. Bake each side for 2-3 minutes and watch the steak as it cooks
Method 3 of 4: Salting the Steak to Tenderize It
Step 1. Coat one side of the steak with kosher salt
Place the hip steak in a plate with the edges and sprinkle a generous amount of salt over the surface. Cover the steak with a thick layer of salt so you can't see the surface of the meat.
Use coarse salt, such as kosher or coarse sea salt to salt the steak. Table salt or something similar will be more difficult to remove from the steak and will make it too salty
Step 2. Press the salt onto the surface of the steak
Using your hands or the back of a spoon, lightly rub the salt over the steak. You don't need to rub hard salt to tenderize the meat, but make sure that the entire surface of the steak is salted.
The salt will absorb some of the moisture from the steak, giving it a stronger flavor and slightly preserving it before cooking
Step 3. Turn the steak over and repeat the salting process on that side
For optimal taste and tenderness, salt both sides of the meat. Remove the steak and flip it over to salt the bottom side and be careful not to let the salt that is already on the top fall off.
Step 4. Keep the steaks in the refrigerator for about 1 hour for steaks 2.5 cm thick, applying in multiples
Place the steak in the refrigerator and let the salt begin to tenderize the meat. As a rough rule of thumb, let the steak rest for about 1 hour per 2.5 cm of thickness. If it's 5 cm thick, for example, let the steak rest for 2 hours.
Don't let the steak sit longer than it should. If left too long, the steak will go through a process of curing instead of softening, and this will change the texture of the meat
Step 5. Wash off the salt and cook the steak
After letting it sit, use a butter knife or similar tool to scrape as much salt off the surface of the steak as possible. Rinse the steaks under cold running water to remove any remaining salt, then pat them completely dry with a few paper towels. Cook the steaks in a kettle, skillet, or skillet over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes on each side.
When seasoning steaks, you don't need to add any more salt. The remaining salt on the surface is enough to give it a salty taste. So, if you add more, the steak will be salty
Method 4 of 4: Using Marinade
Step 1. Pour 60 ml of oil into the blender
The oil will be the base for the marinade. So, use whatever oil you prefer. Olive oil is a good choice, but vegetable oil, peanut oil, or canola oil can also be used. Put 60 ml of oil in a blender.
If you don't have a blender, just make the marinade in a small bowl. Finely chop all ingredients and mix until smooth
Step 2. Add 3-4 tbsp
(45-60 ml) vinegar. The acid from the vinegar will help break down the steak to make it softer. Red wine vinegar will make the meat taste richer, but you can also use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar if you prefer. Pour 3 tbsp. (45 ml) vinegar to oil, or 4 tbsp. (60 ml) if you want a stronger marinade taste.
In this case, the most important part of the vinegar is its acidity. So you can use anything acidic as a substitute. Lemon or lime juice also works well and will give it a fresher taste
Step 3. Add the herbs and spices you like
Once the basic ingredients for the marinade are made, you can add whatever flavor you want. Try adding tsp. (2 g) salt, 1 tbsp. (4 g) dried thyme, 3 peeled garlic cloves, and tsp. (0.5 g) ground red pepper for a simple, but delicious marinade.
- If you're using a blender, you don't need to chop the herbs and garlic as they will grind perfectly when all the spices are blended. If not in a blender, chop the garlic and chop any spices you want to add very finely.
- The flavor you want to add to the marinade is entirely up to you. Garlic, rosemary, thyme, paprika, and red pepper go well with classic steaks. Just try what other flavor combinations you can come up with.
Step 4. Stir the spices until well blended
Close the blender and turn on high speed for about 1 minute. Continue to blend until all the herbs are ground until smooth and the vinegar and oil are slightly combined. Press the Pulse button one or two more times when you're done to grind the herbs that aren't yet tender.
Step 5. Put the steak and marinade in a ziplock bag
Place the meat in a properly sized ziplock bag and carefully pour over the prepared marinade. Seal the bag tightly and use your hands to knead the steak so that the seasoning covers the entire meat.
If you don't have or don't want to use a ziplock bag, just put the steaks in a small bowl and soak them in the seasonings. You'll want to turn the steak over while it's soaking so that all sides are evenly coated
Step 6. Marinate the hip steaks in the marinade for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator
Place the ziplock bag with the marinade and steak in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to allow it to infuse. The acid in the vinegar will begin to absorb into the meat, breaking it down and tenderizing it while adding flavor.
You can soak the steaks longer to allow the flavors to infuse. However, if you take too long, the acid will destroy the steak and damage the structure of the meat. Do not soak the steaks for more than 6 hours
Step 7. Remove the steak from the marinade and cook
Remove the ziplock bag from the refrigerator and allow the steaks to come to room temperature. Remove the steaks from the marinade and broil in the kettle, skillet, or skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes on each side.
After use, immediately discard the marinade. Close the ziplock tightly and throw it in the trash
Tips
- You can also chop the steak to make it more tender, before or after cooking. Use a sharp knife and cut the steak against the grain to sever the muscle fibers. This will make the steak easier to chew and more tender when eaten.
- The meat tenderizer will also help tenderize the meat and make for a more tender steak. This powder works in the same way as marinades, breaking down meat fibers with enzymes to soften them. Meat tenderizer powder is usually available at your local convenience store.
- As an alternative to a meat mallet for tenderizing steaks, you can also use a nail tenderizer. This tool will tenderize the meat by inserting nails into the steak to break the muscle tendons in the meat and make it more tender.
