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Hanger steak: What is it? And how do you cook it?

What is a hanger steak?

The hanger steak is a v-shaped muscle in the diaphragm of the beef. The muscle has to work hard to get the lungs of the cow in motion. Unlike most steaks, the hanger steak is not attached to a bone.

The hanger steak consists of two parts of long, narrow strips of muscle, which are held together by a thick membrane. This is very chewy and should therefore be removed before cooking. Sometimes the butcher does that for you.

Muscles that work hard contain a lot of connective tissue. The same goes for the hanger steak. In addition, it has good blood flow and contains a lot of structure. It weighs between 400 and 700 grams and each cow only has one.

Cutting a hanger steak

Just like the bavette, the hanger steak contains coarse meat grain. This makes it important to cut the meat against the grain into thin slices. This prevents the meat from becoming chewy.

How do you cook a hanger steak ?

The hanger steak tastes best red or red to rosé. This means you don’t have to cook the steak for a long time.

Before you start cooking the hanger steak, it’s important that you remove the membrane in the middle. As mentioned above, this is very chewy and inedible. This way you divide the tenderloin in two.

Cut along one side of the membrane with a sharp knife. Make short cutting movements, so that you don’t cut away much of the good piece of meat. Once you’ve cut one side, cut the other side.

Frying

Take the meat out of the refrigerator an hour before cooking and let it come to room temperature.
Remove the membrane as described above. Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the hanger steak for a few minutes on both sides.
Reduce the heat and add a knob of butter if desired. Fry the steak for another minute on both sides.
Remove the meat from the pan and let it rest, loosely covered with aluminum foil, for 5 minutes.
Cut the hanger steak against the grain into thin slices and season with salt and pepper.

Grilling

A hanger steak on the barbecue is also delicious. You should grill the steak first and then let it cook slowly by indirect grilling.

Prepare the barbecue for the direct grilling method. Clean the grill grate and grease it with oil.
Place the hanger steak on the part of the barbecue and grill both sides for a few minutes.
Then cook the meat on a less hot zone to a core temperature of 50-52 ℃.
Remove the meat from the barbecue and let it rest, loosely covered with aluminum foil, for 5 minutes.
Cut the hanger steak against the grain into thin slices and season with salt and pepper.