Underblade Steak

The UnderBlade Steak is pretty new to the beef world. Most beef lovers haven’t had the pleasure of eating this versatile cut of beef. The Underblade steak cut of beef comes from the chuck shoulder of the cow and as the name suggests comes from under the shoulder blade of the cow.

With the presence of quality fat within the fibers it has an extremely moist texture when cooked correctly. I’ll explain a few ways to cook this amazing cut of meat in a minute. Underblade steak, the secret American wagyu beef steak without the cost 🙂

Photo Comparsion – Matsusaka Wagyu

The Underblade shares a similarity to the top blade steak and 7-bone steak.

When the full underblade steak is left uncut it’s good to use as a whole roast cooked low and slow in the oven. Underblade can be braised or even used in stews, the underblade steak lends itself to many moist cooking methods. When cooking the underblade steak as a steak, which is my favorite way to cook this cut; high heat with a strong sear then finished in a hot oven is the way to go. Ever heard of melt in your mouth? I kinda always thought that was just talk until this meat happened to me.  If you happen to like steaks that aren’t cooked too much this is a must try for you. I find that the chuck underblade steak can end up becoming tough if you miss your mark on doneness. Yes, I’ve made that mistake before 🙂 I encourage you to not overcook this cut past medium rare. If that’s not your thing, go the moist slow and low method and you’ll be a happy camper.

The chuck underblade steak can also be sautéed, yet requires several hours of marinating that helps break down the connective tissues. The marinade will help tenderize the meat. The underblade steak is popularly used in Shabu Shabu (also called Chinese Hot Pot) after being sliced as thin as 1/16 of an inch. This cooking method is super fast cooking, more of a warming of meat through cooking method. Also, you could dip the meat in a hot broth or use something like a hot rock and do an interactive dinner party setting with a hot rock in the middle of the table and let everyone cook their own meat. If you wanted to try this, take a medium sized rock like a lava rock and wrap it in aluminum fold and preheat your oven to the highest setting and warm the rock for around 45 minutes before serving. For the table, take a large heat-safe patter and fill it with smaller rocks that haven’t been heated. I use to work at a fine dining restaurant here in Austin Texas named Uchi ( Japanese ) that offered this service. Every time we served a table with the hot rock, heads always turned with people asking, “What’s that?”.

The Under Blade Steak was one of the cuts introduced by the $1.5 million USD worth study conducted by meat retailers and meat scientists collaboratively in order to minimize wastage from a Beef carcass.

The cut is also called Zabuton Steak, named after the Japanese word ‘zebuton’, which is used for square-shaped Japanese pillows and is a reference to the square appearance of this cut.