Lori Jayne Steak Frites

Mike and I were recently checking out youtube when his algorithm showed us the steak frites at Lori Jayne.

Even before he clicked the preview, I was obsessed. A paper boat full of straight-cut, deeply fried fries, gorgeous slices of steak, a healthy ladle of sauce, and a sprinkle of chives is the stuff of dreams. After watching the video multiple times, we made it at home. We haven’t been to NYC in a minute, but why, when we have NYC at home? Jokes aside, this is a great steak frites recipe and it’s been on repeat as of late.

Steak frites

The very first time I ever had steak frites, it was a revelation. It was my first time in Paris, with my somewhat new-ish boyfriend (now husband) and I felt a combination of so grown up and so, so, young. We went to Relais de l’Entrecote, because that’s what you do when you’re in Paris, and I was blown away by the juicy, meaty steak slathered in their secret sauce served with crispy, golden fries. After that, I was hooked. Steak frites became a way of life. There’s really nothing better than a perfectly cooked steak, shatteringly crisp fries, and a rich savory so-good-you-want-to-drink-it sauce.

Lori Jayne steak frites

Lori Jayne is the brainchild of Sam Braverman, an affable chef’s chef kind of guy from what I can tell on youtube. The restaurant (named after Braverman’s mother) started out serving fried chicken, but the steak frites special is what caught the heart and stomach of New Yorkers. Served in a paper boat, with chopsticks as the perfect utensil to grab a composed bite, the French-Asian-American influenced dish is a cult favorite. It’s so perfect looking, it’s almost obscene. Bright ruby red in the middle, with a hard seared crust on the outside, not-too-thinly sliced pieces gently laying on top of a bed of golden brown fries, with an inspired au poivre sauce that has toasted peppercorns, both regular and Sichuan.

How to make the ultimate steak sauce

Even though it has so many ingredients, the sauce that comes with the Lori Jayne steak frites is one of the best steak sauces I’ve had. Creamy and peppery, balanced yet bold. I think it’s so good that I made a double batch so I could ladle it all over fries, no steak needed. Here’s how you make it.

1. Melt. Start off by making the base of the sauce, the steak butter. Melt butter, along with beef fat trimmings over very, very low heat. Add some rosemary and thyme into the pot and continue to cook, until the beef fat renders and your house smells like a steak house. When it’s ready (after an hour of driving you nuts), remove it from the heat and stir in some minced garlic.
2. Chop. While the garlic is infusing, chop up some shallots. Strain the steak butter.
3. Caramelize. Add the steak butter to a sauce pan, along with some olive oil. Caramelize the chopped shallots, stirring occasionally, over low heat, until the shallots are jammy and soft. Stir in some minced garlic.
4. Deglaze. Add cognac to the pan, to deglaze, scraping and stirring up all the flavor. Add some white wine too and bring to a gentle simmer.
5. Season. Stir in fish sauce, sweet soy sauce, and rice vinegar.
6. Reduce. Add some chicken stock, bring to a boil and let the sauce reduce by a third, concentrating all the flavors.
7. Cream. Stir in some heavy cream and let the sauce come to a simmer, then pull from the heat.
8. Infuse. Off the heat, infuse the sauce with thyme and rosemary.
9. Toast. While the sauce is getting herby, toast mixed and Sichuan peppercorns in a dry pan until toasty and fragrant. Let cool, then either grind, crush, or pulse in a food processor.
10. Finish. Strain the sauce into a pot, discarding the solids. Stir in the crushed peppercorns and keep warm over a very low flame. Try not to “taste” all of the sauce before serving up the steak frites.

Why this recipe works

The true star of this recipe is twofold: the steak butter and the sauce. Steak butter, as its name implies, is butter with a healthy dose of flavor thanks to beef fat, herbs, and garlic. The steak butter is used both to baste the steak as it cooks, and as the base for the steak sauce. Truly, if there’s one thing to take away from this recipe, it’s the steak butter. The steak sauce is equally amazing. Yes, the recipe list is crazy long and multiple steps, but really, it’s worth it. The mix of regular and Sichuan peppercorns just takes it over the top. You get the fragrance of black peppercorns and the tongue-numbing mala features of Sichuan peppercorns. Combined with cream and umami-forward fish sauce and kecap manis (thick sweet soy sauce), you get a balanced yet bombastic sauce that is just begging to licked up.

Lori Jayne steak frites at home

The first time I made this dish, I faithfully recreated the recipe as gleaned from the youtube video. From then, I took out what I felt were extraneous ingredients and steps. Here’s what I did.

• Fries at home? That’s gonna be a hard no. I have tried to make amazing fries many, many times, and I bow down to the professionals. Either buy your favorite fast food fries (McDonalds looks just like the fries from the Lori Jayne steak frites) or get frozen from the grocery store and air-fry. Cutting out the fries makes this recipe way more approachable.
• Extraneous ingredients. I love esoteric ingredients as much as I love making fries at home. Kidding, I actually love esoteric ingredients, but for ease I cut out a bunch of the things that they use in the Lori Jayne steak frites: kecap manis, lemon juice, sherry vinegar, parsley, and thinly sliced chives. I subbed the kecap manis with a bit of sweet soy sauce because we always have it in the pantry. For the lemon juice and sherry vinegar, rice vinegar acted as the acid. As for parsley and thinly sliced chives, well, I get that when you’re spending $25, you want some garnish. At home, I’d rather spend the herb money on more fries. Fries over frills.

The best kind of steak to make at home

Is it just me, or does your fire alarm go off every time you make steak? It’s so bad that I’ve forbidden me to make steak at home. I’m easily embarrassed and I don’t want the fire department to know me more than they already do. For this post I decided to give it another go. Mike always makes the steaks in our house and it’s effortless and problem free. He even managed to make a great steak in an air fryer. So of course I asked him what to do:

• Mike: You just sear the steak 3 minutes per side in a cast iron pan.
• Me: But how do you stop the smoke alarm from going off?
  
• Mike: I don’t think you’ll have a problem at 3 minutes per side.

Reader, the smoke alarm went off.

So anyway, for me, the best kind of steak to make at home is the kind that doesn’t cause the smoke alarm to go off.

The second best kind of steak at home, and the best kind for the Lori Jayne steak frites, is boneless short rib. Essentially, short ribs are rich, meaty, and nicely marbled, making them perfect for searing. Typically, in Western cuisine short ribs are braised, but in the East, it’s often sliced thin and then quick-cooked, a la Korean kalbi. For this recipe, find some nice, thick pieces and trim off any noticeable fat/sinew pieces for the steak butter. Bonus points if you cut your piece so it’s a perfect rectangular prism. If you’re not into short ribs, chuck eye/shoulder steak is great too. It’s super flavorful and tender and way less expensive than rib-eye, which is kind of the whole point of steak frites.

An easier steak frites experience (sorry Lori Jayne)

If you’re looking for steak sauce that doesn’t take a million ingredients and hours of your life, might I recommend our amazing post about 8(!) different steak sauces that are all super quick and easy to make?

steak and fries forever,
xoxo steph

Lori Jayne Steak Frites

The sauce is so good that I make a double batch to ladle all over fries, no steak needed.

Serves 4

No ratings yet

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Steak Butter

• beef fat trimmings as much as your steaks provide
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 2 tbsp garlic minced

Sauce

• 1 cup shallots chopped
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp garlic minced
• 1 tbsp cognac
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1/2 tbsp mixed whole peppercorns
• 1/2 tbsp sichuan peppercorns whole preferred

Steak Frites

• 4 servings fries of choice
• 4 medium steaks of choice short ribs preferred, about 6oz each

• Make the steak butter: add your steak trimmings to a small sauce pot, along with the unsalted butter, rosemary, and thyme. Heat on the smallest burner you have, on the lowest heat, for 1 hour minimum. When the hour is up, stir in the garlic and remove from the heat, letting the steak butter infuse.

• Make the au poivre sauce: Add 4 tbsp steak butter, along with 2 tsp olive oil to a wide bottomed sauce pan. Gently cook the shallots over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until they start to turn jammy and translucent.

• Add 1 tbsp of garlic to the shallots and continue to cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant. Deglaze with 1 tbsp cognac, scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate the fond. Add the wine.

• When the sauce is gently bubbling, stir in the fish sauce, sweet soy sauce, and rice vinegar, then add the chicken stock and reduce by a third.

• Stir in the cream and bring to a gentle boil, then remove from the heat. Add the rosemary and thyme and let sit, off the heat.

• Meanwhile: toast the whole peppercorns in a dry pan over low heat, tossing until they smell toasty and fragrant. Let cool, then crush with a blender or food processor.

• Strain the sauce and add the crushed peppercorns. Keep the sauce warm over very low heat.

• Make the steaks to your liking or: Generously season all sides of the steaks with salt and pepper. If you have some, heat up a little leftover steak fat in a cast iron pan over high heat. When hot and smokey, add the steaks to the pan and cook without moving for 3 minutes. Flip the steaks and continue cooking for 3 more minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.Baste generously with the steak butter on both sides and let rest for 5-10 minutes while you cook or obtain your favorite fries.

• Enjoy: Slice the rested steak into about 1/4 inch slices. Make a bed of frites and fan the steak out on top. Generously ladle on the warm au poivre sauce. Enjoy immediately, with chopsticks.

Estimated nutrition is for sauce only. It’s going to depend on how many fries you eat, you monster. 🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟🍟

Nutrition Facts

Lori Jayne Steak Frites

Amount Per Serving

Calories 273
Calories from Fat 218

% Daily Value*

Fat 24.2g37%

Saturated Fat 15.2g95%

Cholesterol 71mg24%

Sodium 455mg20%

Potassium 196mg6%

Carbohydrates 9g3%

Fiber 0.01g0%

Sugar 2.8g3%

Protein 2.7g5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.