Steak Marinade
Published July 1, 2021
- Total Time
- 15 minutes, plus at least 30 minutes’ marinating
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
⅓ cup plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 (1 ¼-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated (about 2 teaspoons)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated (about 2 teaspoons)
1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 ½ pounds boneless steak, any tender cut (preferably bavette, sirloin tip, flap, rib-eye, flank or sirloin)
1 tablespoon neutral oil, for cooking (if using a pan)
Preparation
- Step 1
Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, coriander and cumin in a large bowl or resealable freezer bag. (You should have ¾ cup marinade.) Add the steak and massage the marinade into the meat, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or preferably for at least 3 hours or up to 2 days. (The marinade will permeate the meat more powerfully over time, resulting in a more robust flavor.)
- Step 2
Remove the meat from the refrigerator about 1 hour before cooking to bring to room temperature. Heat a large heavy skillet, grill or grill pan over high heat. If using a pan, add the neutral oil to the pan. (No oil is needed for the barbecue or griddle pan.) When the pan or grill is hot, use tongs to remove the steak from the marinade, allowing excess to fall away before placing the steaks on the pan or grill. Depending on the thickness of your steak (and the doneness you prefer), cook a 1-inch-thick steak for about 3 minutes per side until medium-rare. For thinner steaks or alternative cuts, reduce the cooking time to about 2 minutes per side, and increase the cooking time as needed for thicker cuts.
- Step 3
Remove the steak and let rest for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and thinly slice the meat against the grain. Serve warm, room temperature or even cold, depending on your preference.
Private Notes
Comments
I used 1/3 c. sherry instead of rice vinegar and it worked really well.
This is the best that steak has EVER come out for me. Granted, I've never been able to pull off a great steak .. rarely attempt it at home because of that; so I guess the bar was low for me. But I really enjoyed this, both hot and cold (probably would be great in a salad). Love that with this technique, a $5/lb sirloin came great. DID use a carbon steel pan that I've had for a while which probably also contributed to the great browning. Thanks !
Followed the recipe exactly and marinated sirloin steaks for 3 hours, delicious! I used regular soy sauce and think it would be overly salty if I marinated it longer but it worked out well at three hours.
Used this for flank steak recently and it was excellent. Didn't have fresh ginger just ground, seemed fine.
Have used this marinade three times now and my boys (& husband) eat every last morsel, even mine (sigh). I’ve taken to making an extra filet now just so that I get to have a bite. Make this, you won’t regret it.
For a healthier and less salty choice is organic “Cocos amino‘s” otherwise the recipe is great!

