Onglet – You Ate One Already

I recently visited one of my local butchers to shop for a nice hearty Rib Eye or even a New York steak. I was taken aback by the price of the Rib Eye steak at $29.99 a pound. At that point my eyes began to stray away while my mind told me to check out the chicken. While on the route to chicken, I noticed something I’ve never seen before—Onglet. It was sitting right next to the flank steaks and was priced at $12 a pound.

Now what is it? I asked the butcher and he said, Onglet is hanger steak. This piece of hanger steak was a little strange because it looked like a loin. The other hanger steaks I’ve dealt with in the past were big square pieces that look like flank steak. I guess they trimmed it to a point where it looked like a loin. There are some pictures on the internet where they display the whole piece of hanger steak that they pull and it seems like there are 3 pieces, one that looks like a loin sort of connected to 2 bigger rectangular chunks.

Research on the web says that an Onglet is: Known as ‘Hanger steak’ to Americans, because on the cow it ‘hangs’ between the rib and loin cuts. Onglet (the French term) is prized for its full flavour, and is best sliced across the grain as steaks and cooked over a high heat. They’re great marinated too! Best eaten rare or medium-rare so that it’s nice and tender, please remember to ‘rest’ the Onglet in a warm place after cooking and before serving. It hangs between the 12th and 13th rib.

I treated the Onglet like I would to any high-priced meat. After seasoning it with salt, pepper, a little sugar and other spices, I let it rest to bring it to room temperature while I heated up my iron skillet. Make sure to cook it to a medium-rare. Rare gets chewy. Well is too tough.

The taste of the Onglet is a little gamey at first but it goes away around your 5th bite. That initial taste of gaminess is there because the steak is close to the liver and kidneys.

Fear not when you see Onglet at your local butcher. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.