~What is a Cube Steak and How to Cook Cube Steak~

Being a grownup is hard.  My mother peddled cube steak to my brother and I under the name "funny steak".  For a period of years, her schtick worked well for her.  If memory serves me correctly, my little brother giggled at his "silly looking steak" during dinner while my mom pandered to him encouragingly with every forkful.  I just sat there and ate the chewy thing.  I found it to be just plain odd in a silly steak sort of way -- the word "funky" hadn't been invented yet.  

What part of the cow does the cube steak come from?

The cube steak is usually taken from the beef round or shoulder (which  -- both are tough cuts.  That said, it can be cut from any tough cut of beef or pork.  It  gets its name, cube steak, because it has been run through an electric tenderizing machine called a swissing machine or a cubing machine (which was invented in 1941).  It pokes enough cube-shaped imprints slightly through the surface to render it hamburger-esque in appearance.  That said, meat can be cubed at home using the jagged side of meat tenderizer.  In either case, this leads people to think the process must render it tender, but, it does not -- what it does do is make it easier to chew.

What's the best way to cook a cube steak?

Because cube steak contains very little fat or marbling, meaning it is really, really lean, you will find you're not going to get much taste from this funny-looking steak either.  It you want a naturally tender piece of cube steak, make your own at home using a more expensive steak such as a tenderloin or rib-eye -- it's unconventional but they taste great and cook up in literal seconds. 

The whole point of cooking any lean, tough cut of meat is to find a way to make it tender and flavorful.   This means cooking it very quickly or very slowly.  Cube steak can be braised, pan-fried or sautéed. It can be browned then baked in a flavorful casserole or cooked low-and-slow in a slow cooker.  Well-known cube-steak dishes included Swiss steak, chicken fried steak, and, Beiijing beef (along with other Chinese beef stir-fry recipes).  Feel free to be creative, but generally speaking, you either want to cook your cube steak very quickly or cook it very slowly combined with other moisture-filled ingredients like onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. 

"We are all in this food world together.~ Melanie Preschutti

(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)