Here's How to Grill a Simple, Delicious T-Bone Steak

Steak is one of the most simple yet delicious ingredients you can work with in the kitchen. It's filled with natural juices that bring out really great flavor. Quite frankly, you don't have to add anything except a bit of salt and pepper to grill a great-tasting steak.

In the Philippines, steak is pretty expensive when you go out to eat at restaurants. It can easily cost you over a thousand pesos to have a taste of good quality steak from restaurants such as Outback, Myron's, Racks, Chilis, and other high-end establishments. But who says you can't have a good steak meal at home? 

Cuts of quality steak from specialty butchers might cost a fortune, and imported steak from either Rustan's or S&R can cost a lot as well. but you can actually get a good quality T-bone Steak cut from SM Hypermarket at only 420 per kilo! The cut seen above only cost me 120 pesos, and is 1 1/2 inch thick. 

The key here is to ask the butcher at the Farm Fresh Beef Section to cut you a fresh T-Bone steak with 1 1/2 inch thickness. It's cheaper because it's sourced from local Batangas beef, but it's actually of pretty good quality. SM Supermarkets normally vacuum pack their T-Bone steaks and store them in the freezer, but you don't really have any control in the thickness if you only rely on these. It's better to actually ask for the cut you're looking for. 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 inch thick Steak

Rock or Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Olive Oil

Preparation:

1. Apply a generous amount of rock or kosher salt (around 1 teaspoon per side) on both sides of the steak and leave at room temperature for around an hour. The purpose of salting the steak for this long is to draw moisture out of the steak, and this will make sure that the steak's interior is soft and juicy when cooked. If you skip this step, you will be left with a very hard-to-chew steak which is like chewing on a piece of rubber, so you wouldn't want that! (Kudos to Steamy Kitchen's Steak Recipe for helping me learn this trick!).
2. When salting, you can also infuse a lot of different flavors into the meat. If you put some lemon, garlic, or any other 'steak rub' on the steak while salting then it will be infused in the meat for a variety of added flavors. YUM!
3. Wipe the surface of the steak with a paper towel to remove the water after you finish salting. Apply some freshly ground pepper on the dry surface for some added flavor on the crust. Brush each side with some olive oil so that the steak doesn't stick to the grill. 
4. Grill the T-Bone steak on each side for 5 minutes (rare) to 7 minutes (medium rare) and serve. 

Here's the finished product, Farm Fresh T-Bone Steak!

One final reminder, make sure that you don't put too much salt on the surface or else the steak will become too salty. After digging into the steak, Farm Fresh's T-Bone Steak is actually a really cheap and tasty way to enjoy good quality meat at home. 

PS: I was told that Cash and Carry Supermarket carries the best affordable steak cuts in town! 

Any tips on where to find good quality cuts in the Philippines or on cooking great-tasting steaks? Let me know through the comments below! 

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Cheers, 

Chef Jay