Skirt Steak
I kind of categorize steaks into two big categories: flat steaks and cut steaks. I am making up those classifications and there is nothing official about them at all. Butchers might have a technical name for the two categories but those are the two I am going with. Cut steaks encompass steaks that are cut from a larger muscle or muscle group. T-bone, NY Strip, filet mignon, ribeye, and others fall into that category. Flat steaks, however, are usually comprised of an entire muscle. These are steaks like the flank steak, hanger steak, and today’s topic: skirt steak.
Where does the skirt steak come from?
The skirt steak is a long, flat muscle that basically comprises the diaphragm of the animal and is located right near the flank steak. Skirt steaks has two variations: outside skirt steak which you will rarely see for sale (it usually goes to restaurants) and the inside skirt steak. The general consensus is the outside skirt steak is a bit higher quality than the inside skirt but they are both quality pieces of meat. Outside skirt tends to be a fattier, a bit more uniform, slightly thicker, and wider. Inside skirt tends to be leaner, a bit thinner, and not quite as wide.
Inside skirt steaks vary in size and weight. The ones above (from top to bottom) were 12, 10, and 13 ozs. They can be as big as 2 pounds in some cases but usually they are under a pound. You will usually find them trimmed at the store but if they come with a membrane on them that needs to be removed. Try to leave as much fat on them as you can since they are leaner cut.
You can see in the picture above that the skirt steak has a very coarse, wide, pronounced grain. It is vitally important to cut across the grain when serving. Skirt steaks isn’t particularly tender so if you don’t cut against the grain you will have a very chewy and tough piece of meat. When cutting I usually cut it into 3 pieces and then cut those perpendicular to the grain.
Some people think skirt steak has a bit of a slightly livery flavor and I can definitely see that. It tastes similar to flank steak in that regard. But it is definitely not an overpowering flavor by any means.
How to cook skirt steak
Skirt steak, like most of the other flat steaks, takes well to a marinade or spice rub. It also calls for hot, dry cooking which, for me at least, means the grill. A good cast iron pan will also suffice if you don’t have a grill.
For the three skirt steaks pictured above I went with three different flavors: Middle eastern, ancho chile, and Asain.
Middle Eastern – This is basically cleaning out the spice cupboard. I took a simple shawarma recipe and adapted it a bit. I went with 2 parts salt, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, turmeric, and 1 part paprika, ground cloves, cayenne, black pepper, and cinnamon. For this one skirt steak that was about 3/4 teaspoons and 3/8th teaspoons respectively. I mixed this all with a bit of olive oil to form a paste and rubbed it into the meat and let it sit for about an hour. Since inside skirt steaks are somewhat thin it doesn’t take a long time to marinate.
Ancho chile – Soak 2 ancho chiles in some very hot water for about 20-30 minutes. Remove the stems and seeds, chop, and throw in a blender with a bit of the soaking liquid, a splash of cider vinegar, about 1/4 tsp of cumin, salt, pepper, and some olive oil until you can puree it into a nice, smooth paste. Rub on the meat and let it sit for an hour or so in fridge.
Asian – about 1/4 cup soy sauce, a tablespoon or two of brown sugar, a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger, a clove or two of garlic, some black pepper, and some red chili flakes. If you like more garlic use more garlic. If you like more red pepper, use more red pepper. The flavor profile is totally up to you. Pour into a zip top bag, add the steak, rub it around, and let it marinate for an hour or so.
I fired up the grill and threw the steaks on for about 3-4 minutes per side. Skirt steak is one of the few steaks that is actually a bit better when it is closer to medium so give it time to get a good sear. A rare skirt steak is very chewy and rubbery:
As far as serving I grabbed some naan bread, lettuce, and tomato, some white sauce from my halal chicken recipe and made some taco/gyro hybrid type things. My wife went with a more traditional taco set up where I just ripped off some bread and grabbed everything with it.
Of course fajitas are a traditional skirt steak recipe. Pretty much any marinade or flavor profile you want to go with will work for skirt steak. Just cook it hot and fast, cut it across the grain and you will have some nice beef.
Where to buy skirt steak
Most grocery stores carry skirt steak and you can also find it at Costco and other warehouse chains. Skirt steak is one of those cuts that used to be on all sorts of “cheap cuts of beef you shouldn’t ignore” lists. Now I wouldn’t consider it cheap at all. At the grocery store I see it for $9 a pound and it is about $8 per pound at Costco.
Each steer only produces 3 or 4 pounds of skirt steak so it isn’t as plentiful as ribeye or sirloin or chuck. Combine that with the increasing popularity of different ethnic recipes for skirt steak and the price keeps going up and up.
Like what you read? Be sure to share it with your friends and come back tomorrow to learn about another cut of beef.
