We Puerto Ricans enjoy rum, and we like a good steak. So, somewhere along the line, someone decided to combine the two. The result: Biftec con Ron or Rum Marinated Steak. Now, this is gospel, the best rum for this to work, is dark rum. White light rum is not gonna cut it. Save that for your sophisticated mixed rinks like a martini or a Rum Collins. Being a Nuyorican, I gravitate toward Puerto Rican rums That being said, any good brand will do whether it’s from San Juan or Haiti or Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Carribean. These days even Americans make good rum. All in all, it’s an embarrassment of riches.

In this recipe the question invariably arises as to how long to marinate the meat? In my family, we always gave it 4 hours. Some folks may say longer, even marinating it overnight. Use your judgment and common sense. I’m sure you could marinate the thing for as long as you want, and it still would be edible.

For this recipe you can use whatever individual steak cuts you prefer. This could be rib, loin, round, flank, brisker, shank, etc. Since my days back on the block, my circumstances have changed, thus I usually use sirloin steak when making this dish. But, again, any good cut of meat will do. When finances were low, our family would use chuck steak. The beaty of this dush is that the marinade will make even a cheap cut of meat taste like a kingly dish. You can’t go wrong with this sucker. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

4 steaks, 12 ounces to 1 pound each
½ cup mustard
4 ounces dark rum (also called gold rum in some areas)
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:

  1. Wash steaks under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Pierce meal all over with a fork
  2. In a small bowl or cup, mix mustard, rum and pepper.
  3. Brush meat with olive oil and spread both side with marinade. Place in a large zip-lock bag and refrigerate for 4 hours, turning and mixing with marinade several times.
  4. Place meat in a large pan or skillet. Sear on both sides over medium-high heat. Cover and let meat cook in the marinade until desired degree of doneness. Of course, this all depends on the thickness of the steak. Rule of thumb is this: for rare to medium rare, cook 2-3 minutes per side over medium-high heat, for medium rare to medium steak, cook 4 minutes per side over medium-low heat. For medium to well-done, cook 4-5 minutes per side over medium-low heat.
  5. Allow the steaks to rest for 5 minutes before serving. This allows the juices to redistribute, resulting in a more tender and flavorful steak.
    Yield: 4 servings.