on Memorial Day, kevin was busy studying for his last final of seminary, but that didn’t keep me from grilling up some delicious food for us! i found this recipe on The Kitchn and it was literally called “a really good tri-tip marinade” so i had to try it! an added plus was that i already had most of the ingredients for the recipe at home.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 2 tablespoons parsley flakes
- 1/4 cup malt vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
- 2.5 lb tri-tip roast
Making the Marinade:
1) In a saucepan, mix together 1/4 cup of the sugar and 1/4 cup of the water and bring to a boil, stirring all the while. When the sugar gets a dark color, add the spices and stir. Bring back to a boil for a minute, and then add the vinegar, the other 1/4 cup of water, the soy sauce, and the fish sauce. Mix well and taste. If you feel like it needs more “balance,” add a little more salt. Add the garlic and the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bring back to a boil, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Let cool.
2) Place the tri-tip roast in a ziplock bag and pour the cooled marinade over. Place in fridge and let marinade overnight.
Cooking the Steak:
1) Remove the steak from the fridge and allow it to sit, at room temperature, for 30 minutes.
2) Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan (or cast iron skillet). Render the fat side of the steak for 3 minutes. Flip the steak, so that the fat side is up, and cook for 5-6 minutes. Flip the steak back and cook for 5-6 more minutes.
3) Remove the pan from the heat and cover with aluminum foil for 10 minutes. Slice the steak against the grain and enjoy!
this truly was “a really good tri-tip marinade!” it had the perfect balance of sweet and sour. some of the more cooked edges of the steak actually reminded me of beefy jerky! haha. after the steak finished cooking, i took the leftover marinade and made a sauce out of it by adding the marinade from the ziplock bag into the pan (without the steak) and adding butter to give it some thickness. it was suuuper intense/strong, but delicious!
on a different note, i looked around the internet to try and see if the fat side should be cooked first or later and didn’t get a clear answer, so i tried cooking the fat first. it got a little burnt (so next time i’ll need to monitor the temperature of the pan better), but it ended up being fine because we didn’t eat too much of the fat anyway. it just added extra flavor and kept the meat from drying out. anywho, i think i still have yet to master the art of cooking tri-tip perfectly…
all in all, though, it made for a delicious meal and we’ve been enjoying it all week!
alice in cook-ING land 