Zebu steak

Ingredients

The beef

• 4zebu steaks
• sirloin, rump or fillet
• about 200 g each
• 2cm thick
• at room temperature
• or any lean grass-fed beef

For cooking

• 2 tablespoonsoil
• or clarified butter
• salt and coarsely ground pepper
• a knob of butter, to finish

The green peppercorn sauce

• 3 tablespoonsgreen peppercorns
• in brine, drained and lightly crushed
• 1shallot, finely chopped
• 50 mlbrandy
• or rum, or omit
• 200 mlbeef stock
• 150 mldouble cream
• 1 teaspoonDijon mustard
• a knob of butter
• salt, to taste

Sometimes added

• a little crushed garlic
• a splash of red wine
• a squeeze of lemon
• chopped parsley

To serve

• chips or fried potatoes
• or steamed white rice
• a green salad
• sakay, on the side

Directions

1. Take it out of the fridge beforehand. Give it thirty minutes at room temperature. Use kitchen paper and press firmly. Wet meat steams instead of searing. Season generously with salt and pepper. Use coarsely ground pepper here.
2. Salt well ahead or salt at the last moment. Salting an hour ahead draws out moisture. Heat a heavy pan until it is very hot. Add the oil and let it shimmer. Lay the steaks in away from you. You should hear a fierce immediate sizzle. Take the steaks out and heat it further. Now do not move the steaks at all. Sear it for about two full minutes. Use tongs to turn it, not a fork.
3. Sear the second side for two minutes. Two minutes a side gives rare on a 2 cm steak. Press the steak with a finger to judge. Rare feels soft and clearly yielding. Baste the steaks with the foaming butter. Give that about thirty seconds. Lift the steaks onto a warm plate. Cover the steaks loosely with foil.
4. Rest them for a full five minutes. Minced beef must be cooked through. Make it in the same pan as the steaks. Pour off any excess fat first. Add the chopped shallot to the pan. Cook it for two minutes until soft.
5. Add the crushed green peppercorns. Drain them and crush them lightly. Add it to the hot pan off the heat. Spirits added to a hot pan can ignite. Take the pan off the heat before adding spirit. Stand well back as you add it.
6. Keep your face well away from the pan. Never pour from the bottle over a hot pan. Return the pan to a medium heat. Add the stock and scrape the base. Let it bubble and reduce by half. Add the mustard and stir it through. Simmer it until it coats a spoon. That takes about three minutes.
7. Add the salt carefully and taste again. Add a squeeze of lemon if it needs lifting. Stir in a knob of butter off the heat. Pour any resting juices into the sauce. Lay a steak on each warm plate. Spoon the sauce over or beside it. Serve chips or fried potatoes alongside. Serve sakay on the side for those who want heat. Cooked steak keeps a day refrigerated.

Technique

• Zebu are working animals — grass fed, walked long distances, slaughtered older — and the meat is very lean, dark and strongly flavoured with almost no marbling. Fat is what gives beef a margin of error, and without it the meat dries out almost immediately. Zebu steak must be served rare or medium rare; that is a fact of the meat rather than a preference.
• Two minutes a side gives rare on a two-centimetre steak and three gives medium rare. Beyond that it goes dry and tough.
• Salt well ahead or salt at the last moment, never ten minutes before. Salting early draws out moisture that is reabsorbed, seasoning the meat through; salting immediately leaves a dry surface that browns. The middle ground leaves it wet and it will not sear.
• Pat the steaks completely dry and get the pan genuinely hot. If there is no fierce sizzle when the meat goes in, take it out and heat the pan further.
• Do not move the steaks once they are in the pan, and turn them with tongs rather than a fork. Contact time builds the crust and a fork pierces the meat and loses juice.
• Basting with foaming butter at the end adds richness the lean meat lacks, and it is genuinely worth the thirty seconds here.
• Rest the steaks five minutes and pour the resting juices into the sauce. Resting matters more with lean meat, since there is less juice to lose in the first place.
• Spirits added to a hot pan can ignite. Take the pan off the heat first, measure the brandy into a glass rather than pouring from the bottle — flames can travel up into it — stand back, keep a lid nearby, and do not do it under an extractor running hard. If you are unsure, leave the spirit out; the sauce works without it.
• Green peppercorns are unripe berries preserved in brine, softer and milder than black pepper with a fresh resinous quality. They are not simply pepper in another form, and the brine makes them salty, so season the sauce carefully.
• This is a French restaurant form applied to Malagasy meat, and a recent dish rather than an ancient tradition. Madagascar was a French colony from 1896 to 1960, a period that included a major uprising crushed in 1947 with a very high death toll. The atlas records that alongside the culinary influence.
• For tougher zebu cuts, varenga is the traditional Malagasy answer — boiled then shredded and fried until crisp, turning toughness into an asset.

Substitutions

• Any lean grass-fed beef behaves most similarly to zebu; it is leaner, darker and cooks faster than grain-fed beef.
• Sirloin, rump or fillet all work; fillet is most tender and least flavourful, rump the reverse.
• Rum replaces brandy, or the spirit can be left out entirely with no real loss.
• Crushed black peppercorns replace green ones for a sharper, hotter sauce that is a different thing.
• Crème fraîche replaces double cream and is less likely to split.
• Steamed rice replaces chips and is what most Malagasy households would serve.

Variations

• Varenga is the traditional Malagasy treatment of tougher zebu, boiled then shredded and fried crisp.
• Zebu brochettes, cubes grilled on skewers over charcoal, are sold as street food across Madagascar.
• Kitoza, strips of beef dried and grilled, is the other great Malagasy beef preparation.
• A version with a red wine and shallot sauce follows the same French restaurant pattern.
• Romazava, the national beef and greens stew, is the everyday household dish.
• Some restaurants serve zebu steak with a green peppercorn and vanilla sauce, using Madagascar’s own vanilla.

History

Zebu are Madagascar’s wealth and sacrificial animal; French-influenced restaurants grill the lean meat as steak with pepper sauce.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zebu steak?

Zebu steak is a main from Madagascar: lean humped-cattle steak grilled and served with green peppercorn sauce. Zebu are Madagascar’s wealth and sacrificial animal; French-influenced restaurants grill the lean meat as steak with pepper sauce.

How long does Zebu steak take to make?

Zebu steak takes 20 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Zebu steak?

Yes, within limits. Any lean grass-fed beef behaves most similarly to zebu; it is leaner, darker and cooks faster than grain-fed beef. Sirloin, rump or fillet all work; fillet is most tender and least flavourful, rump the reverse. Rum replaces brandy, or the spirit can be left out entirely with no real loss. Crushed black peppercorns replace green ones for a sharper, hotter sauce that is a different thing. Crème fraîche replaces double cream and is less likely to split. Steamed rice replaces chips and is what most Malagasy households would serve.

What is the most important thing to get right in Zebu steak?

Take it out of the fridge beforehand. Give it thirty minutes at room temperature. Use kitchen paper and press firmly. Wet meat steams instead of searing. Season generously with salt and pepper. Use coarsely ground pepper here.