Honey Soy Skirt Steak with Shitake Mushroom Recipe

For the skirt steak

3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak, cut into 6-inch pieces

Place all ingredients, including the steak, in a large, zip-top plastic bag.

Squeeze all the air out of the bag and seal. Massage the steak to get it nice and cozy with the marinade. Let marinate at least 30 minutes or overnight in refrigerator.

When ready to cook, drain the skirt steak and pat dry with paper towels. If you are cooking on your barbecue grill, preheat that sucker and on direct, high heat, grill the steaks 3 to 5 minutes each side, depending on the thickness of the steak. Some of the skirt steak may be thinner, so make sure you time accordingly.

If you are grilling the steaks in a frying pan, heat the frying pan over high heat until very hot. Pour in a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil before adding the steaks to the pan. Make sure you give each steak plenty of room. Grill 3 to 5 minutes each side.

Let the steaks sit on the cutting board for 5 minutes to rest. You can tent the steaks with foil. While the steak is resting, make the shitake mushroom recipe below.

Slice the steak ACROSS the grain (perpendicular to the lines of the grain) and serve immediately.

For the shitake mushrooms

1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 stalk green onion, finely chopped
32 ounces shitake mushrooms, stems trimmed
2 tablespoons rum (or vegetable/chicken broth)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium heat until it just starts to get hot. Add the cooking oil and the garlic. Let the garlic slowly sizzle in the oil as it heats up. When the oil is hot (but before the garlic burns) add the green onions and stir-fry for 15 seconds. Add the mushrooms and quickly stir to coat the mushrooms in the garlicky oil.

Turn the heat to high and stir-fry for 15 to 30 seconds more. Pour in the rum and season with salt. Saute until the mushrooms are softened and the rum has evaporated.