Mesquite Grilled Three Pepper Beef Porterhouse Steak (燒烤豆科灌木三椒上等牛排, Siu1 Haau1 Dau6 Fo1 Gun3 Muk6 Saam1 Ziu1 Soeng6 Dang2 Ngau4 Paai4)

If you like your steak a little spicy, this easy to make recipe should make you happy since it uses three peppercorns: black, white, and Szechuan. I keep pepper grinders with each of these whole peppercorns in my pantry, so it’s easy to grind just the amount desired to season the steak. If you don’t have the whole peppercorns in separate grinders, you can easily throw the peppercorns into a spice grinder. The outer surfaces of the steak are first coated with sesame oil and then Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (or just plain salt) before applying the ground peppers.

I’ve totally changed the way I grill beef steaks after reading the method used by America’s Test Kitchen. The recipe is for porterhouse steaks, but it can be used for other cuts of beef and other meats (e.g. pork). Their method produces a charred exterior with a tender medium-rare interior, and uses both the oven and the grill. The basic premise for their method is to preheat the steak in the oven before grilling the steak over a hot fire to produce the desired results. I adapted the method to use the grill only to produce similar results. In my previous grilling recipes, I would place the meat over a hot fire first to char the outside and then move the meat to the cool side of the grill to roast and/or smoke. This produced a charred exterior and medium-rare interior, but the medium-rare interior was sandwiched between a well-done exterior, whereas the America’s Test Kitchen method produced a consistent medium-rare interior without the well-done exterior layers.

So my adaptation is to reverse the previous order of cooking the meat to first pre-heat the meat on the cool side of the grill to smoke it before moving to the hot side to char. This produces similar results to America’s Test Kitchen’s original method even though the fire is reduced in heat when the meat is charred after pre-heating, and you don’t need to use your oven. The new method does take longer to cook the meat, but it’s worth the extra time to get the desired results. The cooking time varies with the thickness of the meat, temperature of the fire, and your previous experience with the barbeque grill, so you’ll have to experiment a little to get the desired results. I think if you try cooking steaks using my adapted method, you’ll also change the way you grill meat.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1½ lb.	750 g.	Beef porterhouse steak (上等牛排, soeng6 dang2 ngau4 paai4)
		Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1-2	1-2	Garlic cloves (蒜, syun3)
		Lawry’s brand Seasoned Salt, or equivalent, or salt
		Ground black pepper (黑椒, hak1 ziu1)
		Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
		Ground Szechuan peppercorns (花椒, faa1 ziu1)

Equipment

		Garlic press
		Tongs and an oil coated paper towel
22.5 in.	57 cm.	Covered charcoal or gas grill (or larger)

Instructions

Lawry’s brand Seasoned Salt

1. Take the beef steak out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking and coat the exterior with sesame oil.
2. Crush the garlic using a garlic press and rub the garlic onto the exterior of the beef. Season the beef with Lawry’s brand Seasoned Salt or equivalent, or salt, and ground black, white, and Szechuan peppercorns. The amount of salt and pepper to use is a personal choice, so use an amount that seems appropriate.
3. Prepare the charcoal or gas grill for indirect cooking following the manufacturer’s instructions. Light the charcoal or preheat the gas grill accordingly. Soak the mesquite wood for smoking (pecan, oak, or any other wood can be used) for one hour if desired. I use dry and not soaked wood.
4. If using a charcoal grill, arrange the lighted coals on one half of the grill. The side of the grill with the coals (the “hot” side) will be used to grill the beef, and the side without the coals (the “cool” side) will be used for pre-heating and smoking the beef. For a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions as to which burners to leave on for indirect cooking. Clean the grill grate and then, using tongs and a paper towel coated with oil, lubricate the grate to prevent the beef from sticking. Put the smoking wood onto the coals or as per the instructions for the gas grill.
5. Place the beef on the cool side of the covered grill for 3-5 minutes. Uncover the grill, turn the beef over, and cook covered for another 3-5 minutes.
6. Uncover the grill and move the beef to the hot side of the grill. Grill the beef uncovered for 2-4 minutes before rotating 90⁰ to produce the grill marks, and grill for another 2-4 minutes. Turn the beef over and repeat the process to produce the grill marks on the other side.
7. Remove the beef from the grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Be careful not to overcook the beef. The thickness of the beef, the temperature of your fire, and previous experience with your grill will determine the total cooking time for the beef.