So I’m in the kitchen and I hear my cell ringing, but I can’t go answer it because I’m in the middle of cooking something I can’t walk away from. I hurry and finish up and then go check my phone. One missed call, and it’s from Dawg whose wife is two days past the anticipated delivery date of their first child. But he left no message(?!). I quickly call him back expecting to hear some good news. Instead, he goes “Yo, I was wondering if you knew where to get some good nabeyaki udon in the East Village.” Stoopid Dawg.

Anyway, what was I cooking you ask? Well it all started with this lovely find at Nippon Daido, my local Japanese market:

Two things of interest about this steak- the brand and the cut. The brand is Washugyu, from a company based in the Pacific Northwest. You can check their website to see the exact blood lines of their beef, traceable back through a particular lineage of Wagyu cattle from Japan. Wagyu is of course the breed used for the famous beef that comes from Kobe, Japan. As for the cut, it is called a “flat iron steak”, which is a designation that I don’t think even existed a decade ago. It’s cut from the top blade of the shoulder, and is particularly easy to identify because of the very distinctive straight line of connective tissue running through the middle lengthwise. See it in the picture? Because of that, flat iron steaks are usually less expensive than other comparable parts of the animal. But for those who know, it is one of the best cuts of meat you can get. Why? Because it’s got all the flavor of a shoulder cut, but unlike the rest of the shoulder, it is actually way tender without requiring long slow cooking. That makes it super versatile in terms of how you can choose to prepare it. Tonight, I just gave it a 45 minute soak in a quick Korean-style marinade (sesame oil, soy, sugar, garlic and sake) and then seared it for about 25 seconds per side in a pan as hot as I could get it. And with a simply dressed side of sliced radishes, this was dinner:

The real pleasure of this Washugyu beef, besides the incredible marbling, is its unique texture and chew. There’s no discernable grain to the meat, and it is soft without being mushy. And that disconcerting looking streak of connective tissue you saw at the start? Well, you can definitely still tell it’s there, but it’s just a slight textural contrast; not tough or chewy like you’d expect. Over all, the Washugyu flat iron is kind of like the inside of a rare filet mignon but just slightly firmer and with a thousand times more beef flavor and richness than filet. Meltingly delicious on the tongue yet substantial enough to provide a satisfying chew. Awesome.