Forgive the EXTREME close up on this pic, meows…but I really wanted to get up in there! Mission accomplished. I try not to eat red meat too often, although I do enjoy it. But when I do, it’s either in the form of a juicy burger, meatballs, meat sauce for pasta, or a nice tender steak. Now there are many cuts of beef out there and one of my new favorites over the past few years has been Flap Steak, which is often times confused with Hanger Steak and each is even sold as the other at times, so be on the lookout for that or ask your butcher which cut it actually is when buying it because there IS a difference between the two, despite their visual similarities. 

Flap Steak comes from a bottom sirloin butt cut of beef, and is generally a very thin steak. It’s also referred to as Flap Meat which is a rather unflattering name given how delicious it really is. It’s kind of the underdog of the beef world in a way. There was once a time that this particular cut was fairly inexpensive simply because no one was buying it! Not anymore, meows… Very popular in Latin Cuisine from carne asada to various Asian dishes, the market price on the flippity Flap Steak has gone up and up! However, you can find the occasional sale and I do think it’s worth buying. I mean, you’re still going to pay triple the price dining at a restaurant, so think of it that way. 

When cooking Flap Steak I recommend these particular methods for maximum flavor and texture. Grilling, Hard Searing, or Sautéing. If you’re fortunate enough to own some type of flat top grill or Plancha, I’d have fun putting it to use with this cut of meat. Tonight for our dinner I went with a quick hard sear. That’s when your saute pan is nice and hot with a bit of oil,  not scorching. But close! Searing the meat quickly at a high heat will ensure that you get a perfect sear or crust on both sides while keeping the meat tender and easy to chew and break down while eating. Otherwise, as with anything, if you over sear it, it’ll be like a piece of friggin shoe leather and no one wants that… 😛 And another little tip from me to you, meow… Don’t touch the meat at ALL until you’re ready to flip it over. Why you ask? Cause I said so! No really. There is a legit reason. And this is gonna sound corny, but if you interfere, you lose your sear! Meaning, if you play around with the meat too much, you’re allowing the moisture and natural juices to run around the pan, creating too much steam, thus creating water and loosing the whole “frying” action of the sear. You want some sexy caramelization on that meat! This tip pretty much applies to anything that you’re searing. 

Ok. I’ve rambled on long enough about this. So lets get on to how I marinated the meat and what I served it with. I pretty much use garlic in all of my marinades and tonight was no exception. I minced 3 cloves of garlic and used some roasted garlic cloves that I had left in the fridge, adding a sweet nuttiness to it. So lots of garlic. Then I added some fresh cracked pepper, salt, and a dash of soy sauce. Just a dash because I didn’t want it to be too salty. I let that marinate for about 30 minutes and when I was ready, I seared it up! I removed the meat from the pan and let it rest. Which is VERY important for all meats, really. Letting it rest allows the residual heat to permeate through and not only redistributes the juices, but allows the meat proteins to relax and settle. Trust me. 

While the meat was resting, I sliced up one medium sized yellow onion, 3 Pasilla Chili’s I had roasted and frozen ( yes you sure can freeze your peppers once you’ve cooked them) and some red bell pepper. I sliced up the peppers and used the same saute pan that I seared the meat in to add some of that charred flavor to the veggies. Sautéed that for about 5 minutes and was good to go. Sliced up the meat, mixed it with the onions and peppers, adjusted the seasoning and had my flour tortillas at the ready. Garnished with some salsa and sour cream and then… SHOWTIME! I hope that this longwinded post of mine inspires you to run out and get your Flap Steak on one of these days… I’ll have some other yummy recipes using this cut of meat in the future. Thanks for reading this and sticking with me! Cheers, hugs and meows! 

Nikki Meow