Grilled beef in a red curry marinade

We’ve been asked for a long time if we wanted to do something with the petit tender or diamond steak as it is called in the Netherlands. We made some tasty skewers with the steak and seasoned it with a red curry marinade.

This marinade with coconut milk, red curry paste and lime juice gives just the right mix for a spicy Thai taste. The marinade is easy to make and can also be used as a sauce. This marinade is also good to use for chicken and pork.

What is the petit tender?

The petit tender is a piece of meat from the shoulder of the cow. The cut is also called shoulder steak, clod steak or Jewish fillet because Jews are not allowed to eat meat from the hindquarter of the cow. We can say that they have selected a delicious cut of beef with the petit tender.

It is beautiful tender meat that is not inferior to beef tenderloin. The meat is not overly marbled and therefore lacks some flavour. That’s why it’s great for marinating. Before marinating, we remove the silverskin on the steak and cut it into two by two and a half centimetre cubes.

As mentioned, the marinade is very easy to make. It’s a matter of throwing everything in a bowl and stirring. Then we pour it into a ziplock bag along with the steak and let it marinate in the fridge for 6 to 12 hours. We do not use salt in this marinade. The red curry paste already contains enough salt. If you still want to add salt, sprinkle it over the meat just before grilling or after.

After about 12 hours of marinating, we thread the steak cubes on long skewers. These extra-long skewers are flat, so the meat does not spin when you turn the skewer. Turn the skewers regularly until the meat is nicely grilled on all sides. We close the lid after each turn so that the meat is cooked all around at the same time and not just from below.

If the distance between the meat and the hot coals is much smaller, you must turn it more often.

The steak is ready when the core temperature is 55ºC (131F). This takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Watch carefully where you insert the probe of your Thermapen. If you hit the metal skewer, you will get the wrong temperature.

When the meat rests for a few minutes, we use the residual heat in the kamado to cook the rest of the meal. We had already pre-cooked some noodles, and now it is only a matter of stir-frying some vegetables with some Indonesian bumbu. This way, you have a complete meal on the table within half an hour. The wok stands firmly in the accessory rack you get with your Kamado Joe.

If you will make this red curry steak, let us know in the comments below.