My friend, Mary Ann, is almost Hawaiian, even though she is a haole and lives in the snow when she’s not surfing. I thank her for this recipe, Pipikaula (Hawaiian slang = “beef rope”), a popular appetizer or welcome addition to a rice bowl dinner.
Pipikaula (Hawaiian Beef Jerky)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ –2 pounds flank steak, trimmed of fat and silver skin
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 inches freshly grated ginger approx. 2 tablespoons
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and finely minced
- ¼ teaspoon dried red chile flakes
Instructions
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Cut the flank steak in half lengthwise and set in a rectangular dish. Combine the soy, sugar, ginger, salt, garlic, and chile flakes and pour over steak. Cover and chill, turning occasionally, for 6 hours. Do your best not to pierce the meat.
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Preheat oven to lowest setting, around 200° F. Lift meat from marinade and place on a wire rack set in a rimmed sheet pan. Bake until meat is firm and dry and no longer has a raw texture in the thickest part (cut to test), 10–12 hours. Cool meat and slice thinly across the grain to serve. Keep airtight in refrigerator for up to a week.
Recipe Notes / Tips
- Double duty: Add an extra steak (flank or otherwise) to the marinade and pull it at 3 hours and cook it for dinner (cast iron pan or outdoor grill). Let the other flank steak continue to soak up the marinade and become pipikaula.
