Want to know how to cook juicy tender pork steaks?
It's taken me ages (a few months of experimenting) to find a way to make pan fried pork steaks taste phenomenal.
You need 3 things; good quality ingredients (free range or organic pork), the right amount of heat (pork doesn't like it too hot for too long) and a decent cast iron or stainless steel pan (the meat browns better than in a non-stick pan).
I use free range Gloucester Old Spot rib eye pork steaks. These steaks have quite a bit of fat running through them, but don't be afraid of the fat, you need it for tenderness.
Miraculous ingredient: pork rib eye steaks (free range or organic)
Rib eye pork steaks
Ingredients 2-3 Pork rib eye steaks, at least 2 cms thick 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil Coarse sea salt and black pepper to season
Method
Take the pork out of the fridge, remove the packaging and let it come to room temperature. Smear both sides of the steaks with salt, pepper and a little olive oil (1 tablespoon).
Heat a dry empty cast iron or stainless steel pan on a high heat. Leave the pan for 5 minutes to get seriously hot. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and place the pork in the pan. Set the timer to 3 minutes and step away from the pan - don't be tempted to move the meat around in the pan as it will be firmly stuck to the bottom and will tear.
When the timer goes off, turn the heat to low and set the timer for another 3 minutes. The high heat sears the meat and forms a dark crust. Once the crust is there, the pork won't be stuck to the pan anymore; you’ll be able to nudge the steaks with some tongs to release them from the bottom of the pan and to turn them over.
Turn the pork steaks over when the timer goes off, turn the heat back to high and fry for 3 minutes. Then turn the heat to low for 3 minutes. Now, turn the heat off and leave the steaks in the warm pan to relax and finish off the last bit of cooking (with no heat). Leave for at least 10 minutes.
The timings will vary slightly if your pork is thinner or thicker than 2cms.
I like to slice the pork into thin strips and then put it back into the pan, which has now filled up with loads of heavenly meat juices.
Serve up with some creamy mash potato to soak up the juices, a green salad or peas.
Preparation time 2 minutes, cooking 14 minutes, resting 10 minutes, 2 adult portions, 2 child portions
