Bitoque
Portuguese Steak with Garlic, Wine and a Fried Egg
A thin steak, fried fast, with a quick pan sauce of garlic, bay, white wine and butter and a fried egg on top. The yolk is meant to break into the sauce, and the chips are meant to mop up both.
The Portuguese magazine recipe read for this draft serves the steak with fried potatoes and a salad, and makes the sauce in the pan the meat was cooked in. It cooks the egg in the sauce; this version fries it separately, which is easier to control.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 thin rump or sirloin steaks (about 150 g each), at room temperature
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 60 ml dry white wine
- 25 g butter
- 2 eggs
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- Chips and plain boiled rice, to serve
Method
- Fry the steaks Season the steaks on both sides. Heat the oil with the bay leaves in a large frying pan over a high heat until it shimmers. Fry the steaks for 1 to 2 minutes a side for meat that is browned outside and pink in the middle. Lift onto warm plates.
- Make the sauce Lower the heat to medium. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant but not brown. Pour in the wine and let it bubble for 1 minute, scraping up the browned bits. Swirl in the butter until the sauce turns glossy.
- Fry the eggs Meanwhile, fry the eggs in a little oil in a second pan over a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the whites are set and the edges are lacy.
- Serve Pour the sauce over the steaks, set an egg on each and serve at once with chips and rice.
Food safety
Steak served pink is safe when it is a whole cut seared on both sides. For runny yolks use British Lion-marked eggs.
Have the chips and rice ready before the steak goes in the pan. The cooking takes five minutes.