# Any experience with onglet/hanger steak?



## recky (Oct 15, 2012)

Right, my restaurant is located in Germany's far west, in the Eifel range, where cattle graze just metres away from our kitchen. We have the same double-duty cows as the French, i.e. dairy and meat from the same animal, our butchery is very similar, too, with a couple of notable exceptions, one being the complete absence of onglet, or hanger steak.

I want to pioneer onglet in this region - nobody has ever heard of it, but I think I can sell it, so I've asked my butcher to supply a few onglets. There is a German name for the cut, at least, so I could tell him exactly what I wanted. He says: "You can't grill THAT!!!! It goes in the grinder for sausage!!! But I'm willing to learn..."

So I've just trimmed my first hanger steak, took the silverskin off and halved it lengthways, taking the large bit of sinew out. Nice, clean piece of steak. Chucked it on the grill, just seconds past medium-rare, rested for 4 minutes. Salt, pepper, olive oil. I must say: FANTASTIC!!!! Quite chewy, but VERY tasty.

What my butcher and I have been confused about is the ageing of hanger steak. In both France and Germany, beef is traditionally not aged as long as in the States, a week max. I do get my butcher to wet age my beef for 20 days, but he reckons onglet just won't age gracefully, as it turns green very quickly.

Anyone who works with onglet: do you get yours aged? Or is this the one notable exception to your ageing requirements?

Thanks in advance,

Recky


----------



## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

A hangers  steak here is sometimes refered to as Romanian tenderloin or skirt steak. It is tough if not marinated and slice correctly against he grain and thin(like a London broil) It need not be aged as it is really to thin. But be sure to marinate and yes it can be char broiled.  Years ago in NY all the  Jewish deli's had it on the menu


----------



## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Right upfront, I have nowhere the experience or worldly knowledge of *chefedb* ... but I do have lots of it with hanger steak. When I was the chef for a butcher shoppe / bistro we went through as much hanger in a day as we could process, every day. I still do a lot with it today. It's one of my favorite cuts. Now whereas it does come from the same general cow neighborhood as the skirt steak, but I've never heard of it ever being confused for, or called, skirt steak. Hanger steak actually does hang underneath the diaphragm, thus the name. It's a muscle duo that does no real work _(filet tenderness)_ and gets lots of blood flow _(rib-eye flavor)_. It is a much cheaper cut of meat that unfortunately costs what it does based on the time/effort needed to trim them out properly; +/-$4-lb. _($1.90 in the day)_ wholesale vs +/-$14-lb. _($6.99 then too)_ retail, by me.

I trim them out two(2) at a time, splash them w/ +/- 2-oz. each olive oil and worcestershire sauce and season them w/ _Weber_ seasonings. They marinate for however long it takes for me to do anything/everything else until they hit the grill. I don't really see much need for any long time, just for added general flavoring. At the butcher shoppe we put them in trays of _Black Forest_ marinade. I think you could use whatever makes you happy. My grill has a cast iron grill plate. I pre-heat it to very freakin' hot. The steaks hit it biggest side down full flame for the first 4-minutes, then I turn it down to the lowest setting for 2 or 3 more flip turns, depending on size, for another 4-minutes each turn. That gives me 75% med-rare and 25% medium. They come out this way because the steaks are like mini-psmos, not exactly even total size; plus, some people like it medium. The trick in cutting them is in finding the grain. It never goes perpendicular to the cut, but on an angle. They come out like nice oval cucumber slices, not round filet tournedos.

_Great piece of meat._





  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 14, 2015







.




  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 14, 2015







.




  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 14, 2015


----------



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Skirt steak is one of my favorite breakfast meats.

Here is the USA, many diners serve it with eggs, hash browns, and toast.


----------



## recky (Oct 15, 2012)

Thanks a lot for your replies!

It's very difficult and confusing sometimes to juxtapose American and European cuts of meat, and make sense of it all.

Hanger steak most definitely is _not_ skirt steak. As IceMan has said, it kind of hangs between the diaphragm and the kidneys in the front belly cavity - hence the German name 'nierenzapfen' (niere = kidney).

Hanger steak, or onglet, is a staple on French bistro menus, served as the omnipresent 'steak frites' in cheaper neighbourhood bistros and bouchons. It's also known as the butcher's cut. In the rest of Europe, this cut is completely unknown as a grilling/broiling cut. I hear that in the States, French restaurants have discovered onglet/hanger in recent years.

Thanks,

Recky


----------



## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

Recky,

I've cooked a lot of hanger steaks (onglet) as they've caught on here in the U.S. quite well. I've only cooked grain-fed, wet aged hangers as this is the standard over in the states. I will say this is perhaps one of my favorite cuts of meat, beef or otherwise. Couple of bits of advice I have:

1.) Don't undercook it, it's tougher when undercooked than overcooked.

2.) I don't recommend butterflying them in half to create a wide, very thin steak which is common practice in Europe. This takes away all the nuances of what makes a hanger steak a hanger steak. Just a personal preference, I sure it's still good butterflied too.

3.) The highly striated texture takes extremely well to pan searing. I think there is no better way to cook a hanger than a hard pan searing and arroser with butter and thyme/shallots. The crusty little striations are delicious.

4.) The striations make onglets perfect for marinades too if you want to go with grilling it.

5.) The rich flavor takes better to a demi-glace or red wine sauce than a bearnaise or maitre d'hotel.

6.) One side of the hanger lobe is bigger than the other. I would sometimes put two smaller, highly trimmed steaks together for one serving about 7 or 8 ounces. Cooking two 4 oz. pieces together and slicing into pieces and nobody notices the difference on the plate! The trimmings are great ground.

7.) The grain can be difficult to find after it's been cooked, it's very similar to coloutte in that it runs down at an angle.

Hope this helps in any way. Again these are all my personal opinions, so take them with a grain of salt!


----------



## recky (Oct 15, 2012)

linecook854 said:


> Recky,
> 
> I've cooked a lot of hanger steaks (onglet) as they've caught on here in the U.S. quite well. I've only cooked grain-fed, wet aged hangers as this is the standard over in the states. I will say this is perhaps one of my favorite cuts of meat, beef or otherwise. Couple of bits of advice I have:
> 
> ...


Hi linecook,

I've served hangers now for two days and people love 'em! So they're here to stay.

I went with my instinct and didn't butterfly them, because I don't like what happens to extremely thin steaks - too unpredictable to cook to the desired doneness. I sear my onglets hard on a flat top and finish them off in the oven with my own special steak butter (thyme, rosemary, parsley, anchovies, sun-dried tomato, seven-pepper mix, garlic). The brown bits on the griddle are scraped off with the help of a few slices of shallots and turned into a quick red wine pan jus.

I still haven't figured out the ultimate way of plating hangers, though. I have seen them served in thin, bite-sized slices, which can look a bit messy on the plate (and customers aren't used to being served steaks sliced up for them). They're also extremely juicy - even after a five-minute rest, they will still lose a lot of blood when sliced, which doesn't look great on the plate.

How do you plate them?

Thanks,

Recky


----------



## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Today I don't know what they call them. Example I went into my local market and saw a Mom And Pop steak? Also saw a piece of chuck marked London Broil, also saw a piece of the rib (we used to call them points) called a steak tender? These places all seem to make up there own names. I go by the government book on meat cuts(Primal and sub primal) which I still have and is over 30 years old.


----------



## recky (Oct 15, 2012)

Been cooking quite a few hangers tonight, serving them sliced quite thinly. Customers seem to love them, I'm getting quite a few thumbs up sent into my open kitchen.

But how the hell do you stop them bleeding gallons of liquid onto the plate??? I've tried cooking them medium and resting them for over 6 minutes before slicing, makes no difference. My ribeyes from the same animal hardly bleed at all!

Cheers,

Recky


----------



## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

For plating I've always sliced onglets into thick slabs. Across the grain on a 45 degree bias. As for resting times it varies from steak to steak. We would routinely rest coulottes for 8 mins or 9 minutes but 5 mins for a NY strip. Many different factors play into it including thickness, cooking method, temperature and everything else. Don't be afraid to rest longer than 5 or 6 minutes if you feel it needs it. Some proteins naturally run a lot of juice even when fully rested (duck breasts are a great example!) so if it's running all over the plate try placing the sliced pieces onto paper towels to lightly wick off the excess juices before plating.


----------



## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Let me get this right ... _You're suggesting putting cut meat on paper towels to soak up extra juice?_ Is that it?


----------



## linecook854 (Feb 13, 2013)

IceMan said:


> Let me get this right ... _You're suggesting putting cut meat on paper towels to soak up extra juice?_ Is that it?


I'm suggesting putting fully rested, sliced proteins on a clean paper towel to wick up a small amount of run off, yes. That method is perfectly acceptable at a Michelin star kitchen I staged at and is very common at many high end kitchens for super clean plating. Meat station would have a stack of single sheet paper towels between two half sheet pans and grab a new towel for every protein, this is essential for pan seared items not only meat but fish and anything else seared on high heat.


----------



## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

_OK._


----------



## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015











  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015











  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015











  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015











  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015











  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015













  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015











  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015











  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015











  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015











  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015












  








Image




__
Iceman


__
Mar 16, 2015








_vocabulary_​


----------



## meatball matt (Jun 24, 2014)

Hi. In my kitchen we have hanger steaks as part of the regular menu. I think they are one of the most flavorful cuts I've had. I grill them with a steak seasoning. They are good for a customer who likes their meats temped out above medium as it seem to still have a lot of flavor and moisture.

I cut it cross grain on a 45 degree bias and fan the steak out across the plate then finish with a shallot and escargot butter. They do seem to bleed up through medium. If the servers are fast the mid rares can get to the table before they start to bleed.

All in all, I think this is a great steak. Easy to cut down and trim, tastes great, and looks good on the plate.


----------

