Steak from the less familiar cuts

Fillet, sirloin and rib-eye are familiar steak names. A butcher may also have steaks from other parts of the animal, under names like onglet, flank and feather steak. Each one comes from a different part of the animal.

Onglet

Onglet comes from the plate, the upper belly of the animal. It hangs from the diaphragm, which is where its American name, hanger steak, comes from. In Britain it is sometimes sold as skirt, and the French name onglet is used too.

It was once known as butcher's steak, because butchers often kept it for themselves. Down the middle runs a long membrane that cannot be eaten, so cut that out before cooking.

Flank

Flank is taken from the belly muscles, behind the plate. It is long and flat, with a grain you can see.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, flank was a less well known cut in Europe, and butchers often sold it for less than other cuts. It can be grilled, fried, or cooked slowly in liquid to make it more tender.

Feather steak

Feather steak comes from the shoulder. In the United States it is sold as flat iron steak. The muscle has a seam of tough connective tissue down the middle. Once that is cut out, the meat can be cut into two flatter steaks.

Cooking and slicing

Give the steak a short rest, then slice it thinly across the grain. Flank especially is sliced this way, which makes it less chewy.

When steak can be pink

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says whole cuts of meat such as steaks can be served pink in the middle. These cuts, cooked whole, are steaks of that kind. On a whole cut of beef or lamb, any bacteria sit on the outside, so sear the outside well before serving it pink.

Steak cut into cubes for skewers is a different case. The FSA says any meat that has been minced or skewered all the way through should be cooked thoroughly, because this moves bacteria from the outside into the middle.

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