shaved steak

The Thin Cut

Whether it’s for cheesesteaks or Mongolian barbecue, shaved steak has proven to be a versatile option for generations of meat lovers.

The use of thinly sliced meat has been around for generations, and while us Aussies often tend to opt for a big slab of porterhouse or a giant T-bone on the barbie, many other cultures savour the flavour of this thinly sliced and easily prepared meat.

At the Genghis Khan Mongolian restaurant in Adelaide, the proprietor, Fon Lau, explains that thinly sliced meat came about through necessity in Mongolia originally. Because the weather was so cold, the meat would freeze and the people had no choice but to thinly slice their frozen meat for use in cooking.

Nowadays, he says, the meat is frozen quite deliberately in order to achieve the thinnest slice possible. In terms of beef, Lau says that most often they would utilise cuts such as topside or knuckle – not the most expensive cuts but when sliced so thinly will cook to perfection and remain tender.

Once the meat is frozen it is sliced (or shaved) on a commercial slicer to achieve the desired thickness and cooked to order in the traditional Mongolian restaurant.  Although the restaurant is classified as ‘all you can eat’, he says that all meals are cooked to order with customers choosing their own meat, vegetables and sauces to be cooked by chefs wielding huge chopsticks on a round grill. Even the cooking method has been around for generations – with the round grill said to represent the shields the ancient Mongols heated up and then cooked on with chopsticks similar to those used today.  Another popular use of thinly sliced meat is for the traditional Italian dish, carpaccio. A raw beef dish with its origins in the famous Harry’s Bar in Venice, and apparently named after the Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio, it still remains a popular menu item in both traditional and contemporary Italian restaurants.

Traditionally, the dish is kept simple, comprising raw beef served very thinly sliced, drizzled with olive oil, a little lemon juice and frequently topped with capers. Some chefs will also add grated parmesan cheese to the dish.

According to Michelle Elia, Chef at Cicciolina Restaurant in St Kilda, beef carpaccio remains a really popular dish to have on their menu. She states that they also deviate from tradition by serving other dishes such as tuna carpaccio which are also popular.

In this sense the term ‘carpaccio’ frequently refers to the method of slicing and serving different forms of meat and seafood. But it is the traditional beef carpaccio that has stood the test of time.

When asked why she thinks it has remained a popular dish for so many years, Elia enthuses: “Because it’s light, and it’s usually a really good, high quality grade of meat that you would slice up thinly and serve raw. It’s tasty, just a lighter sort of meal option. That’s why I love it anyway, if you don’t want to have a massive meal it’s a good, light and tasty choice.”

Given that the meat is served raw in carpaccio, Elia stresses the importance of using top quality meat, stating that in her restaurant they would most often opt to use the eye fillet.

With carpaccio, the meat is not necessarily referred to as being ‘shaved’ and is not routinely sliced using a commercial slicer. It is however often frozen (or partially frozen) to make the thin slicing easier and more accurate.

Elia states that she has utilised both options for slicing in the past – commercial slicer and slicing by hand, and generally would freeze the meat first if they wanted wafer thin slices for their dish. She explains that thinner slices are usually required for a seafood carpaccio, and slightly thicker for the beef dish. When preparing carpaccio in her restaurant, Elia states that she tends to stick to the traditional serving of the dish. “We always try to use simple, fresh ingredients, you don’t want to overcrowd the dish, it’s important you are able to taste the quality beef.”

Another long-standing use of ‘shaved beef’ is the ubiquitous ‘Philly cheesesteak’. Invented in South Philadelphia in the 1930s, those native to Philadelphia are passionate about the dish.

According to Wikipedia, the meat traditionally used is thinly sliced rib eye or top round. Along with the thinly shaved and fried meat a white roll is stuffed with fried onions and cheese such as provolone. These days cheesesteaks are available at numerous specialty fast food restaurants throughout Philadelphia and the grease-filled buns are best sellers.

In Quebec, the use of very thinly sliced, or shaved, beef is hugely popular in a dish known as ‘Chinese Fondue’ or ‘Fondue Chiniose’. The fondue uses very thinly sliced beef tenderloin or sirloin, served on a platter, alongside a large pot of flavoursome beef broth filled with herbs, spices and vegetables.

The slices of meat are simply speared and immersed in the boiling broth to cook for a few seconds, then served with a variety of dips and sauces.

According to a French Canadian friend, the broth ingredients vary depending on the cook, and are often a closely guarded family recipe. The sharing of fondue is a common and relaxing way of spending time with friends and family.

According to Australian butchers, customers here would not commonly ask for ‘shaved steak’. We tend to use what’s more commonly referred to as ‘minute steak’ or ‘sandwich steak’ for preparing menu items like steak sandwiches. And that’s a different thing altogether.

Minute steak generally refers to a piece of meat that has been tenderised and will cook very quickly (hence the term minute steak) on a grill or barbecue. It is most often used in dishes like steak sandwiches or when consumers want a piece of meat that will cook quickly without any fuss. According to www.cuisine.com “minute steaks are usually sirloin, cut thinly to cook very quickly.”

So, it is clearly seen that the use of delicate, thinly sliced meat is popular in a variety of dishes. A variety of cuts can be used depending on the dish – and one thing is certain, they are all tasty and hugely popular dishes in various cultures.

But, I have to admit, despite repeated attempts and promising it would be ‘off the record’, the secret recipe for the Chinese Fondue broth my friend obtained from his mother has remained just that!

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