Recipe: Flap Steak, Butchers' best-kept secret - Article and 3 Recipes Using Flap Steak

BUTCHERS' BEST-KEPT SECRET
Seldom-seen flap meat is giving better-known steaks a run for the money
San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, March 16, 2005
By: Tara Duggan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Steak eaters are slaves to fashion. While a tender piece of filet or New York strip is timeless, restaurant goers are flocking to lesser bistro steaks such as hanger, skirt and flank.

Though fibrous and chewy, they are packed with flavor. The popularity of these steaks -- among Latin American and Asian as well as French bistro chefs -- has driven up the price, making these once lowly meats either hard to find or more expensive than their rough texture might merit.

That's where flap meat comes in. Also called flap steak, the unflatteringly named cut is similar to skirt and flank in that it comes from the less tender regions of the animal. Often cheaper than more popular cuts, this little underdog of the beef world has a wonderful meaty flavor and fine texture when prepared carefully. That's why it's starting to show up in more markets, from the butcher case at Berkeley's Cafe Rouge to 99 Ranch Market.

"It's a beautiful steak," says Eduardo Martinez, kitchen manager at Bi- Rite Market in San Francisco, which sells marinated Niman Ranch flap meat. "It's a nice option to the more expensive cuts of steak, like the flatiron, which is kind of a commodity because all the restaurants use it."

Like skirt or flank steak, flap meat benefits from marinating and being cooked on high, dry heat, whether grilled, broiled, pan-fried or stir-fried. It's vital to cut the meat very thinly across the grain, and it is at its best not too much past medium-rare.

"It loves a good raw heat, where you cook it nice and fast, where the flames hit it," says Shannon Gregory, a butcher at Cafe Rouge in Berkeley, which sells Niman Ranch's flap meat in both its meat market and in the restaurant as a plate of bistro-style grilled steak with red wine shallot butter. "Make sure you cut across the grain. Otherwise it's like eating a lot of rubber bands."

Niman Ranch calls its flap meat bavette, the French name for the cut. But, the word bavette can be confusing. There are several types of bavette steaks in France, including the bavette de flanchet, or flank steak. Because bavette means bib in French, sometimes the word is used as a catch-all phrase for thin steak.

"The French cut down steaks so differently and more thoroughly," says Brian Cunningham of Niman Ranch. Yet, the bavette d'aloyau, or "of the sirloin, " is what Niman and the French culinary encyclopedia "Larousse Gastronomique" (Clarkson Potter, 2001) call flap meat.

An extension of the T-bone and Porterhouse steaks, flap meat is officially part of the short loin section, explains Bob Fanucchi, known as Butcher Bob by his students at San Francisco's California Culinary Academy.

"It's actually in the belly of the animal," he says. "You remove the flank, take the layers of fat off and the meat is called flap meat."

Even in the United States, there are a few different versions of flap meat. It's often confused with hanger steak, which it's not, and some butchers label it as sirloin tips, which it also is not.

Regardless of all that, flap meat is a great choice for Mexican grilled meats, bistro steaks and stir-fries -- some Asian meat markets simply call it "stir-fry meat." And if you can't find it, other long-fibered cuts such as flank steak and skirt steak also would be lovely in the accompanying recipes, though cooking times might have to be adjusted.

There are some things you don't want to do with bavette, says Gregory of Cafe Rouge. "One of our chefs tried to make stew one day, and he asked for a piece of bavette. It came out horrible. Tasted like an old shoe."

Though Gregory is a fan of flap meat when it's cooked properly, some butchers don't go for the other bistro cuts, saying they're overpriced because of supply and demand.

"I don't like flank. I wouldn't pay that much money for that piece of meat. I'd rather buy a New York," says Fanucchi.

The same thing could happen to flap meat, if only for its pitiful name. Niman Ranch got around the marketing problem by using the French label.

But, the American name is kind of catchy in its own way. One day trendy restaurant menus might list flap steak frites, or porcini-dusted flap meat. And all of us steak fashion victims will eat it up.

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BI-RITE'S CARNE ASADA
Serves 6 to 8

Eduardo Martinez, kitchen manager at Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco, says it's important to season the meat with lots of salt to balance the chile powder in this delicious marinade.

1/2 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons ground ancho chile powder
Pinch hot red pepper flakes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 pounds flap meat or bavette
Salt and pepper to taste

Toast coriander and cumin in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant, around 5-8 minutes. Let cool, then grind in a spice grinder. Combine with ancho chile, pepper flakes and olive oil, stir then coat meat with it. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

Prepare a grill. If using a grill pan, heat over high heat for a minute or two. Season meat well on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill for about 10 minutes per side, until thickest part is medium-rare.

Let meat rest for 10 minutes, then slice thinly against the grain.

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BAVETTE STEAK WITH BEURRE ROUGE AND ROASTED POTATOES
Serves 4

2 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes, halved if more than 2 inches in diameter
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3 sprigs rosemary or thyme
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 pounds bavette steak or flap meat
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and kept chilled

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place the potatoes on a heavy-duty baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then spread out cut-side down on the pan. Drape with the rosemary or thyme sprigs, then roast for 15 minutes without stirring, until crisp and brown. Pierce with a knife and if not yet tender, roast for about 10-15 minutes longer. Discard the herbs, or use as garnish.

Meanwhile, combine the wine, broth, shallots and bay leaf in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Keep at a low boil until reduced to 1/2 cup. This could take 25-30 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and set aside.

(If the steak is too large to fit in one pan, cut it in half to separate the thicker part and the thinner part. Use 2 skillets to cook the steak.)

Season the steak well on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, then add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil shimmers, add the steak and cook until browned, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to a baking sheet and roast in the oven until cooked to your liking, about 10-12 minutes for medium-rare on the thicker part.

Remove from the oven, tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes.

If the wine reduction has cooled, reheat gently. Remove from the heat, and add a little of the cold butter, whisking until it melts. Continue adding the butter a little at a time, reheating gently for a moment if necessary, until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice the steak thinly against the grain. Serve with the beurre rouge and the potatoes.

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BEEF STIR-FRY WITH SEARED BROCCOLI AND KUMQUATS
Serves 4

1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Pinch hot red pepper flakes or chopped dried red chiles
1 pound flap meat, cut very thinly across the grain into 1 1/2-inch long strips
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 dried red chiles, cut in half
1 large leek, well rinsed and thinly sliced (white and light-green parts)
Florets from 1 1/2 pounds broccoli stalks, separated into 1 1/2-inch pieces
Salt to taste
4 kumquats, julienned

Combine the orange juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar and the red pepper flakes in a shallow bowl. Add the meat, stir to coat, and marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Heat a wok over medium-high. When very hot, add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Heat until shimmering. Add the red chiles and leek, and stir-fry until just softened, about 1 minute.

Toss in the broccoli, then spread out in the wok and let sear on one side without stirring, about 1 1/2 minutes, then stir and repeat until seared all over. Season with salt, then reduce heat and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender. Remove vegetables from the wok and set aside.

Place the meat in a strainer and press out excess marinade.

Return the wok to high heat, then add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. When hot, add the meat. Stir-fry until just cooked through and no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the kumquats and the vegetables and stir a few times to heat through.