My good friends at the Organic Butcher of McLean had some amazing American Wagyu beef that was too good to pass up. I wanted to cook something different and decided to grab one of their Wagyu Flat Iron Steaks to try. This cut of beef is from the shoulder of the animal, well marbled and flavorful, so turning out a delicious meal should be easy. In this post I will walk you through my recipe and give you some background on Wagyu beef so you can sound smart when talking about this with your friends. Now sit back, grab a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, and enjoy this post for Korean Style Wagyu Flat Iron Steak.

Korean Style Wagyu Flat Iron Steak

After picking up the Flat Iron Steak from the Organic Butcher of McLean I unwrapped it at home and found this alluring piece of beef waiting for me. You can see the deep marbling in this cut of beef, exactly what you would expect from Wagyu. The word “Wagyu” translates to ‘Wa’ meaning Japanese and ‘gyu’ meaning cow. The most important thing to know is that all Kobe is Wagyu but not all Wagyu is Kobe (underline this and remember it). Kobe beef is a type of Wagyu that is from the city of Kobe in the Hyōgo Prefecture in Japan. Kobe Wagyu is considered to be the best in the world and can cost up to $200 for a single serving of steak. As a result of its high quality (and most people’s lack of understanding) Kobe is often incorrectly used to describe the Wagyu beef you are buying or eating. Wagyu beef comes from four specific breed of Japanese cattle: Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Poll, and Japanese Shorthorn. In the 1970’s red and black Wagyu bulls were imported to America and started a line of American Wagyu cattle. This breed of cattle is genetically predisposed for intense marbling and producing a high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat. In other words… it is delicious!

For the Korean “style” marinade I used rice vinegar, soy sauce, Korean rice wine, Hoisin, fresh garlic, and ginger. I used a mortar & pestle to mash the ginger and garlic together. This is not necessary but I find it brings out the flavors of these two ingredients much better than mincing. After combining all of the measured ingredients I placed the steak in a Ziploc bag, poured the marinade over the meat, and let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.

After a few hours in the marinade I took the steak out and let it come to room temperature while preheating my large Big Green Egg to 600°. I cooked the Flat Iron Steak direct for 5 minutes per side before pulling to let the meat rest.

While the steak was resting I grilled some shrimp and covered them in the Korean BBQ sauce I made for my rib recipe last week.

After resting I sliced the steak and served with Kimchi Fried Rice and Korean BBQ Shrimp. Delicious!