Flank steak is one of my favorite cuts to eat. It is also a great cut to cook sous vide. It’s really simple and because the flank muscle is flat, it cooks evenly. The meat is tender, it cooks fast. I’m a carnivore beyond salvation and I can honestly say that providing a recipe to go with flank steak almost seems like a waste of time because why would anybody not want to get to the eating part as fast as possible and skip any extra steps, right??? To be brutally honest, In most cases, I simply cook, not only flank steak, but all meats by seasoning them with just salt (maybe some liquid smoke) and I don’t even bother searing and that whole thing about getting a nice golden crust (that’s for special occasions only these days!). I guess I’ve done it enough times that I’m like.. why follow protocol. BUT… we can add a nice chimichurri sauce and elevate this thing beyond the far reaches of the universe and… I also get to call it a recipe. Everybody wins.
Season the Flank Steak
Like I mentioned. Salt. For sure. No salt, no bueno. Adding extra stuff is up to you but I can give you a few suggestions. Pepper comes to mind (keep in mind that searing your steak later might burn some of that pepper and develop some unwanted bitter note but it’s never really been that big of a deal, up to you).
My other go-to is the controversial liquid smoke but I’m not a purist. I rarely smoke anything for real these days but I went through my smoking phase years ago. I was smoking it all. You name it. It’s fun, it’s tricky, it’s technical but it’s no sous vide cooking. So I guess it depends how picky you’re about how meat should be cooked, doneness, collagen denaturation, pasteurization, etc but… let’s not get too nerdy today. Let’s just not.
There are store bought rubs, those will have number of different seasonings, garlic powder, dried coriander, pepper, some heat element like chili flakes, etc. I don’t use this stuff so I don’t know much about it but feel free to experiment. Just keep in mind that a lot of that stuff will end up lost once you remove the steak from the baggie, rinse it and dry it with paper towels before searing unless…
Your best option if you want to go with a more complex seasoning mix is brining or apply the dry rub hours before the cooking phase. Overnight in the fridge. That’s the way to go.
Time to Bag.
So whether you’re brining, curing overnight or just applying your seasoning directly on the steak right before it goes in the bag, nothing will change the fact that you will indeed… need a bag.
I used to have a chamber sealer… one of those fancy things that you sometimes see in cooking shows, etc… do you need one? NO. For year now, I’ve been cooking sous vide using ziplock bags. Removing the air from the bags by submerging the bags with the food in it into the water tank (displacement method). Being careful not to get any water into the bag and sealing it by hand. Sure, a little bit of air is bound to be left inside but not enough to cause any concerns.
I would suggest a proper vacuum sealed bag if you’re cooking food for very long periods of time, like anything above 12 hours or so. As much as I love my ziplock bags… they do leak. And you don’t want to find your food floating inside a bag full of water or your immersion circulator, circulating murky water. It’s happened to me a few times.
The Cook.
Very little to add here other than the time and the temperature:
2-3 hours @ 136F
This is gonna get you a medium rare, super tender finish.
Chimichurri.
Here’s the list of ingredients… yay! recipe stuff finally.
1 parsley bunch
1 cilantro bunch
1 garlic clove
4 dried arbol chiles, seeds and all. Snap off the woody bits.
1/3 C Olive oil
1/4 C White wine vinegar
salt to taste.
Add all the ingredients to a food processor. I prefer using a food processor over a blender. There’s a couple of reasons. I like a chunky chimichurri finish. The blender tends to yield a more creamy one. Up do you… but the second reason is more important. A blender can have an effect on the taste of olive oil. If the speed is too high, the oil can actually develop an off bitter taste. It’s really weird. Not sure why this happens. Mechanical reasons? Oxidation? If you want me to name a third reason I wouldn’t use the blender, it warms up the sauce after extended periods of blending action. I don’t like that either. I like to keep the sauce at room temperature or colder.
If you are concerned with the cilantro amount because yes, I agree, there’s a ton of it… same with parsley… I would encourage you to give this sauce a chance. It’s amazing what vinegar can do to “cook” off those strong herbaceous notes and leave you with an absolutely beautiful taste. Same thing happens to garlic. Don’t you worry about that nasty raw garlic kick. Vinegar is here to tame all these beasts and deliver a dressing that is famous all over the world!
One last thing to consider. Chimichurri benefits from being stored in the fridge, giving the vinegar time to work its magic on the ingredients. Make ahead the night before would be my suggestion.
Back to the Meat… The Sear.
Sear the meat in high smoke point oil (375F-400F). About 2 minutes per side. The whole point of searing at hight temperatures is so that you can protect the perfect doneness achieved by your sous vide equipment. The quicker you can go on and out of that ripping-hot pan, the better.
Serve and Inhale.
Time to slice that flank steak and proudly smile at the sight of those beautiful red hues on that meat contrasted by the amazing steamy golden brown crust. It’s a thing of beauty every time. But it does get better. Enter the Argentinian magical sauce. Drizzle it all over this miraculous protein and get ready to be forever changed. It’s all about making transcendental food after all.
Leave me your thought or questions in the comment section and I’ll see you next time!
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