Steak Sandwich

Lunch | American

Prep time: 30 min Cook time: 30 min Servings: 2

The steak sandwich is a bit of a British pub classic that, when it’s done well, sits up there with some of the best things you can eat. The version I make pulls ideas from a few corners of the world: Spanish romesco for the sauce, besan flour for the onion rings which I borrowed from Indian and Burmese cooking, a good piece of focaccia, and a well cooked piece of sirloin. The result is a sandwich built around texture as much as flavour, with a crisp crust from the bread, crunch from the battered onion rings, chew from a well rested steak, and a bright, nutty sauce that ties the whole thing together.

The thing I care most about with a sandwich like this is texture. A sandwich isn’t just a flavour exercise, it’s a structural one. Every element needs to be doing something different so that each bite gives you a bit of chew, a bit of crunch, a bit of lift and a bit of sauce. If you’ve only got one texture, it gets boring quickly.

Technique

The biggest technique point in this recipe is resting the steak properly. Rest it until it’s at ambient room temperature before you slice. A hot steak bleeds juice straight into the bread and turns the focaccia soggy in a couple of minutes. The other key move is slicing across the grain. Find the direction of the muscle fibres and cut perpendicular to them. Long fibres mean you pull a string of meat out when you bite, and the sandwich falls apart. Short fibres bite through cleanly.

Flavour

The flavour profile leans sweet and savoury rather than spicy. The romesco carries the sandwich. Roasted red capsicums go sweet and jammy in a hot oven, raw garlic adds a sharp allium kick (two cloves, or one if you’re sensitive), toasted almonds bring nutty depth, and red wine vinegar cuts through with acid. The steak is seasoned simply with salt and pepper so the beef does the talking. Besan flour gives the onion rings a nuttier edge than plain flour would, which pairs neatly with the almonds in the sauce. Rocket keeps it all balanced with a peppery freshness.

Ingredient Notes

Steak cut: I use sirloin or New York strip. Both have a good fat-to-lean ratio and a decent fat cap along the top, which is what you want when the steak is doing the bulk of the flavour work. Rib-eye works too if that’s what’s in the fridge, though it can push the sandwich into greasy territory once the romesco and onion rings are on. Carve across the grain in thin strips after resting.

Focaccia: Make yourself a some focaccia the day before or pick some up from a local bakery if they have it.

Besan flour: Besan is chickpea flour. I started using it in London years ago and it’s now my default batter flour for anything deep fried. It fries up crisper and has a nuttier flavour than plain flour. Find it in the international aisle of most supermarkets. If you can’t find it, a 50/50 mix of plain flour and cornflour will get you close on texture, though not on flavour.

Red capsicum: Romesco lives or dies on the quality of the peppers. I use two red capsicums, roasted whole in a hot oven until the skins are blistered and charred, then steamed in a covered bowl so the skins slip off easily. The peppers need to be properly red and ripe for the sauce to have that sweet, deep colour. In a pinch, a good jar of roasted red peppers from the deli aisle will also do the job.

Equipment

Chopping board
Chef’s knife
Tongs
Baking tray
Mixing bowls
Whisk
Blender or food processor
Deep, heavy-based saucepan or pot (for frying)
Digital thermometer
Heavy-based frying pan or cast iron skillet (for the steak)
Slotted spoon
Paper towels
Serrated knife (for the focaccia)

Ingredients

Main Ingredients
focaccia bread
400g (14 oz) sirloin or New York strip steak
large handful of rocket (arugula)
salt and ground black pepper, to season
1 tbsp neutral oil, for cooking steak
Onion Rings
1 large brown onion, sliced into 1cm rings
100g besan flour
100ml cold water, plus more as needed
2 tbsp rice flour, plus extra for dusting
pinch salt, plus more to season
pinch of white pepper
1 L (4 cups) neutral oil, for deep frying
Romesco
2 red capsicums (bell peppers)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
50g natural almonds
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt to taste
stale bread to thicken (optional)

Directions

Make the romesco
Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F). Rub the capsicums with a splash of oil and place on a baking tray. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes, until the skins are blistered and starting to char.
Transfer the hot capsicums to a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap or a lid, and set aside to steam for 10 minutes. The trapped steam helps lift the skins off.
Peel off the skins, pull out the stems and seeds. Add the flesh to a blender along with the garlic, almonds, red wine vinegar, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Blend until mostly smooth. If it’s too thin, tear in a small slice of bread and blend again. Set aside.
Make the onion rings
Slice the onion into 1cm (½ inch) thick rings and gently separate them, keeping each ring intact. Save the small centre pieces for another use.
In a bowl, whisk the besan flour with enough water to get the consistency of pouring cream or paint, around 100ml to start. Whisk in the 2 tbsp of rice flour, a pinch of salt and a pinch of white pepper. Leave the batter for a minute to hydrate, then check the consistency again.
Place some extra rice flour in a shallow dish for dusting.
Pour the neutral oil into a deep, heavy-based pot to a depth of about 6cm (2½ inches). Heat to 180°C (355°F) using a digital thermometer.
Working a few at a time, dust each onion ring in the rice flour, shake off the excess, then dip into the besan batter until fully coated. Carefully lower into the hot oil and fry for 3 to 4 minutes, turning if needed, until deep golden brown and crisp.
Lift out with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined tray and season straight away with a pinch of salt. Fry in batches, letting the oil return to 180°C (355°F) between each batch.
Cook the steak (if it’s not cooked already)
Season the steak generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a heavy-based frying pan or cast iron skillet over high heat until smoking. Add the oil, then the steak.
Sear the steak for 2 to 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare, aiming for an internal temperature of 52 to 54°C (125 to 130°F) before resting. Hold the steak on its fat cap against the pan for the last minute to render the fat.
Rest the steak on a board for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it has come down to ambient room temperature.
Slice the rested steak across the grain into thin strips.
Assemble
Cut the focaccia into sandwich sized pieces and split each piece in half horizontally with a serrated knife.
Spoon a thick layer of romesco onto the bottom half only.
Lay the sliced steak across the romesco, overlapping the pieces slightly so you get some in every bite.
Top with a generous handful of rocket, then pile on the crispy onion rings while they’re still hot.
Close the sandwich with the top half, press gently, and serve straight away.

Recipe notes

Chef Tips

Rest the steak to room temperature

The single most important step for a steak sandwich. If the steak is still warm when it goes on the bread, the juices will run and turn the focaccia into a wet mess. Ambient temperature meat keeps the sandwich structural and lets the romesco do its job. It also gives you time to fry the onion rings without stressing.

Get the batter consistency right

Your besan batter wants to be the thickness of pouring cream or paint. Too thick and the onion rings come out heavy and stodgy. Too thin and it won’t cling to the onion. Besan flour keeps absorbing water as it sits, so check the consistency right before you dip, not just after mixing. A splash more water loosens it if it has tightened up.

Carve across the grain

Before you slice, look at the direction of the muscle fibres in the steak and cut at 90 degrees to them. Slicing with the grain leaves long strings of muscle and sinew that pull out of the sandwich when you bite. Thin cuts across the grain shorten those fibres so the pieces bite through cleanly.

Storage

The sandwich is best eaten straight away while the onion rings are still crisp. The components store separately. Romesco keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for a month. Cooked steak keeps in the fridge for 3 days, wrapped tightly. Onion rings don’t keep well: reheat any leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer at 200°C (390°F) for 3 to 4 minutes to bring the crispness back. Assembled sandwiches don’t store, the bread will go soggy.

FAQs

Can I use a different cut of steak? Yes. Sirloin and New York strip are my top picks because the fat-to-lean ratio works well in a sandwich, but rib-eye, flank or flat iron also work. Avoid anything too lean like eye fillet, you’ll lose the flavour the sauce is built around. Whatever cut you use, the principles are the same: cook to medium-rare, rest properly, and slice thinly across the grain.

Do I have to make the romesco from scratch? Homemade is worth it because the nutty, acidic punch is what makes this sandwich sing. If you’re tight on time, a good quality jarred romesco from the deli or Spanish section of the supermarket will do the job. Blend it with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar to freshen it up before spreading.

Can I shallow fry the onion rings instead of deep frying? You can, but they won’t get the same even crispness. If you’re shallow frying, use about 2cm (½ inch) of oil in a wide pan and turn the rings halfway through so both sides get colour. Deep frying is the easier way to get them crisp all the way round.

What can I use instead of besan flour? A 50/50 mix of plain flour and cornflour is the closest swap. The result won’t be quite as nutty in flavour, but it will still give you a crisp batter. Don’t use plain flour on its own, it won’t have the same crunch when it fries.