Bavette is the perfect cut for a fast, easy weeknight meal. Because of the loose grain on this piece of meat, it’s a good candidate for marinade, as all the sauce can actually get in there, nice and deep. Bavette has a big, beefy base flavour but also cooks in minutes. You get the benefits of skirt and flank but a way better texture, in our opinion.
Stuff you’ll need (feeds 4)
600g x bavette steak
2 x aubergines, sliced on the diagonal
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 x garlic cloves, crushed
1 x thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
1 x tsp fish sauce
1 x tbsp honey
Juice of one lime, plus additional lime to garnish
mint, to garnish
coriander, finely chopped, to garnish
Sesame seeds, to garnish
What you’ll do:
1. Whisk together soy sauce, ginger, garlic, fish sauce. In a non-reactive bowl or plastic bag, place the meat in half the amount of marinade and refrigerate for up to 8 hours, or even overnight. Reserve the rest of the marinade.
2. When ready, heat a pan until smoking hot. Rub aubergine in neutral oil and place in pan. Add a small amount of soy and a small amount of oil, stirring immediately to prevent burning. Be careful of the splash from the hot pan. Meanwhile, remove meat from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature.
3. Cook aubergine for a few minutes until softened and coloured.
4. Remove from the pan and place in a non-reactive dish. While still warm, pour over remaining marinade.
5. Meanwhile, wipe the pan clean and return the heat, until very hot.
6. Remove steak from marinade and lay in the pan. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, turning often. DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO COOK IT LONGER!
7. When done, remove and allow to steak to rest.
8. Cut your steak against the grain and return to the pan, along with lime juice, aubergine and all liquids.
9. Warm through.
10. To serve, spoon mixture onto your choice of noodles, rice, quinoa etc. Garnish with lime wedges, mint, coriander and sesame seeds.