Picanha!

Yea, I never heard of it either.

Looking around for recipes to try (plus cooking shows are comfort food for my brain) I started seeing a few come up, talking about a beef cut called Picanha. I was intrigued for two reasons:

One, it looks like a lean cut of beef with this quarter-inch fat cap on top.

Second, every video I saw talking about this swears this is the best cut and best steak.

I had to find it.

First, let’s back up a bit. So, what is Picanha? It’s a Brazilian cut of beef near the rump of the cow. In the US it’s often referred to as Top Sirloin Cap.

Now, where to find it? Local grocers didn’t carry this cut and there’s not a local butcher shop I can ask. Even the local Mexican meat markets don’t carry this. It seems my search for this meat is for not.

Thank you Interwebs!

While doing a search online for places local that may carry this, I came across an online meat & seafood service called Wild Fork.

Normally I stay away from these services because usually they’re a bit more expensive than local grocers, but overall, these prices were pretty reasonable. And they offered Picanha! So I loaded up my cart with the following:

• Picanha
• Tri-tip (another cut hard to find in Texas)
• Pork hocks (to make smoked ham hocks)
• Octopus (been dying to cook this)
• Argentinian style blood sausage

And shipping was just $6! I mean, this was amazing! Now, truth be told, their seafood is a bit expensive and nothing is shipped fresh. All frozen, so no fresh muscles or clams (all precooked) but their meats, pork & poultry is pretty decent in prices. And they even offer wild cuts like venison, bison, ostrich and other cuts. This just may be my new go to for shopping.

Oh, and did I mention I got my order the next day? Florida to Meacham Airfield to delivered by car: 24 hours. Seriously, go check them out.

So, back to cooking (and pictures!)

My Picanha from Wild Fork

I defrosted the Picanha and sliced along the grain (I’ll explain why in a minute) salted them (only, apparently this is how you prepare this – salt only) vacu-sealed and placed in the sous vide bath at 130F for 2.5 hours.

The Picanha (forgot to get a picture of it whole before I started slicing)

Salted and ready for the bag

In the bath
(I know, a lot of pictures but you know the drill by now when I sous vide, plus this is to make up for the block-o-text about Wild Fork)

Two and a half hours later, I pull and remove. Yes, yes, it’s an ugly gray because sous vide doesn’t brown. A quick sear solved that.

Beautiful smelling, ugly as sin looking Picanha

A quick sear on a rip-roaring cast iron skillet

Served up and plated with a loaf of Schar’s Gluten Free baguette, Hasselback Potatoes (Seriously, try this, it’s a great alternative/variant for potatoes) and some fresh squash & zucchini from my garden, marinated in Italian dressing and grilled.

Dinner is served

Sooooooooo, verdict: A. Mazing! Wife and I agree, probably our best steak yet. The fat rendered enough but still a bit on top that was buttery smooth when you took a bit. Flavor is fantastic. Very beefy. I can understand why Guga calls this the queen of steaks.

So, why did I cut the strips along the grain? Because once done and served, you then cut the finished product against the grain, so the muscle fibers pull-apart making for extremely tender bites.

Now that I’ve had Picanha, and I found a supplier at a decent price, I might splurge and get a wagyu Picanha they offer, for like our anniversary or something special.