This Is The Absolute Best Way To Cook Flap Steak

So many steaks, so many names: That's a conundrum you'll face when shopping for dinner. There are eight primal cuts of beef that are broken down into sub-primals from which many cuts of steak are derived. You're probably familiar with most, but you may not know what a flap steak is. Flap steak is cut from the same primal as flank steak — the bottom sirloin butt — but it's located behind the flank and closer to the round and shank. It's inexpensive and a worthy alternative to tri-tip. Flap steak has a few other names — bavette (in France), sirloin tip (New England), fraldinha (Brazil) — and its texture and grain are similar to flank steak. However, it has more marbling and a beefier taste. We consulted with Michael Taus, Chef at La Grande Boucherie, a Chicago-based restaurant that serves French-inspired dishes, about how to best prepare and cook it.

"Flap steak is fantastic when marinated," Taus told Tasting Table, "thanks to its porous texture, which allows the marinade to deeply penetrate, tenderizing the meat and infusing it with flavor." Because flap steak is thin and well-grained, marinades work especially well, and depending on what ingredients you use for the marinade, they will keep the flap steak juicy and exceedingly delicious. Taus recommends marinading flap steak for four hours and no more than six so that "the flavors develop without overpowering the meat."

A flap steak generally weighs 3 to 4 pounds, around twice as much as a skirt or flank. Because of its long, thin cut, it needs to be cooked differently. "I recommend grilling or pan-searing flap steak over high heat," Michael Taus said, "as this creates a beautifully caramelized crust while keeping the interior tender and juicy." Flap steak needs only a few minutes to cook. It's a steak you don't want to serve rare because it would be unappetizingly squishy. As Taus explained, "It's best served medium-rare to medium, as cooking it beyond that can make it tougher." 

Flap steak should also be grilled whole and not cut up into smaller pieces until after it's fully cooked. Because it cooks so quickly, Taus warns that you should "keep a close eye on it." As with any steak, it's important to let the meat rest, or you'll wind up with all its lovely juices pouring out onto your cutting board. You also need to pay attention to its internal temperature to ensure residual heat doesn't continue to cook it past the desired doneness. Flap steak has a very distinct grain as it tapers, which can make it a challenge to cut into uniform slices. It's best to cut the meat into three or four portions with the grain and then slice each piece against the grain into thin slices.