Cooking with Colm O'Gorman: How to barbecue the perfect steak

Plus my recipe for homemade peanut rayu sauce

Steak and eggs get elevated in Colm O'Gorman's bbq recipe. 

Barbecue season has arrived. The sun is finally — at least, kind of, sort of — splitting the stones…forgive me my shameless exaggeration, but like many others, I am desperate for a decent summer to lift the gloom and it is time to get cooking and eating outdoors.

All over the country, this bank holiday weekend, the charcoal and gas will be lit and the sizzle of a steak or a sausage will be heard. In anticipation of that, I have a few tips for you.

First, and I know I say this a lot, but it is critical to good barbecuing: Get a meat thermometer.

Get one of the probe types that you can stick into your meat or fish and make sure it is perfectly cooked all the way through. It is the only fool-proof way to avoid over or undercooked meat, and, in my experience, it is the key to cooking perfect meat every time.

Secondly, sauces are your best friend when it comes to outdoor cooking. They can bring a lot of flavour and freshness to the party. A zesty, herby chimichurri is a thing of beauty on a steak or over some barbecued chicken, and a good chilli sauce always elevates any chargrilled meat.

Which takes me on to this week’s dish: A rib-eye steak with egg and peanut rayu, served with your favourite sides.

We had this with some patatas bravas that I made in the air fryer, but which could also be easily made in the oven, and some cherry plum tomatoes roasted with a little olive oil, honey, thyme, salt, and pepper.

If you want to go all out with the barbecue, you could have a baked potato instead, and some chargrilled corn on the cob or asparagus. A side of chips and a big, fresh salad would also work very well.

The star of this dish, though, is the rayu, a Japanese chilli oil that has become a bit of a sensation here in Ireland of late, with the addition of roasted peanuts.

It is a delicious and very versatile condiment, good with everything from ramen to dumplings, with eggs, or, as I have used it here, served with a good steak.

It is easy to make, too, but you will need my favourite chilli pepper: Korean red pepper powder.

You can get that from most decent Asian supermarkets, many of which now deliver nationwide.

Rayu will keep well for a month or more in a glass jar. The depth of flavour increases after a few days, so I would suggest you make up a decent amount.

This recipe makes about 500g.

Rib-eye steak with peanut rayu and eggs

recipe by:Colm O’Gorman

The star of this dish is the rayu, a Japanese chilli oil that has become a bit of a sensation here in Ireland of late with the addition of roasted peanuts

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Japanese

Ingredients

• For the rayu:

• 250ml toasted sesame oil

• 150g raw peanuts

• 40g finely chopped fresh ginger

• 40g finely chopped fresh garlic

• 40g of finely chopped spring onions, white parts only

• 2 tbsp Korean red pepper powder

• 1tbsp chilli flakes

• 2tsp brown sugar
  
  

• 2 Irish Black Angus Rib-eye steaks

• sea salt

• pepper

• 2 eggs

Method

1. Toast the peanuts in the oven or in a dry pan. Get them nicely roasted, eight to ten minutes over a medium heat tossing them regularly will do it. Leave the skins on.

2. Set them aside when they are done. Pop the chopped garlic, ginger, and spring onion into a small pan along with half of the toasted sesame oil. Warm it over a medium to high heat until it starts to bubble a little and then reduce it to a simmer for three minutes. Do not overcook it or you will burn the garlic and ginger which will be bitter and ruin your rayu.

3. When it is done, remove it from the heat and add the red pepper powder, chilli flakes and sugar. Stir well to combine and then put it into a bowl along with the remaining toasted sesame oil. Let it cool to room temperature before putting it in a clean glass jar, and that is it, you are done. You can make this in advance of course and as I mentioned above, it ages well and will easily keep for at least a month, but it is fine to use on the day you make it too.

4. It is time now to cook your steaks. Let them rest at room temperature for a little while before you put them on the barbecue. I always season my steaks just before cooking them, using some flaky sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Get your grill good and hot, and pop them on. I like my steaks medium-rare, so I give them two to three minutes each side until they have a nice crust, and my meat thermometer tells me they are at around fifty-five degrees Celsius. For a rare steak, aim for fifty degrees, for medium go for sixty and for well done, seventy degrees. I usually take my steak off the grill when it is a few degrees shy of the temperature I want and then let it rest for at least five minutes before serving it. Try that and I promise you that you will have a perfectly cooked steak every time.

5. Have your chosen sides ready to serve, and while the steaks are resting, fry an egg per steak sunny side up. Serve the steak with the egg on top and a drizzle of rayu. Bring a little bowl of rayu to the table as well though as you will definitely want more!